Emergency services work at the site of a collapsed building in Caracas, Venezuela, June 24, 2026, following 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes that rocked the country. More than 150 people have died and hundreds have been injured, Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said June 25, adding that rescue teams were rushing to the hardest-hit areas to free people trapped under rubble. (OSV News/Reuters/Gaby Oraa)
The archbishop of Caracas called for prayers and solidarity after back-to-back earthquakes struck Venezuela, killing over 150 people and injuring hundreds more.
"We ask God that we may all face this together, finding comfort in God, and in solidarity and charity," Archbishop Raúl Biord Castillo said in a video posted on Instagram June 25.
According to The Associated Press, the twin earthquakes, which struck in the evening June 24, measured 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude and were the strongest to hit Venezuela in more than a century.
Venezuela's Acting President Delcy Rodríguez announced that as of June 25, an estimated 164 people have died and nearly 1,000 were injured.
Social media was flooded with images of the chaos and destruction that ensued, including a video showing terrified residents outside of a church that was swaying as the earthquake rocked the area.
Biord toured several churches in the capital following the devastating earthquakes. Standing in the rubble of San José de Ñaraulí Church, the archbishop said several churches in the archdiocese suffered damage, including the Cathedral of Caracas.
Despite the circumstances, Biord said that what was important was the feeling of unity among people helping victims and those who have lost their homes.
"Our hearts are with the deceased — we pray for their eternal rest — and with those injured who are being rescued, as well as all the people who have lost loved ones. (This earthquake) was a very powerful natural phenomenon," he said.
The archbishop of Caracas prayed that the people of Venezuela would find "comfort in God, and in solidarity and charity."
Advertisement
"Amidst all of this — Christian and Catholic alike — we must all form a great network of solidarity to help those brothers and sisters who are suffering material losses," he said. "We are deeply pained by the damage to our artistic heritage, but that can be recovered over time. For human lives, what is most important is ensuring a good life."
Several messages of support to Catholics in the country were published, including from the Mexican bishops' conference.
In a tweet posted on X June 25, the Mexican bishops said they joined in prayer for the people of Venezuela, and asked God to "grant consolation to the afflicted, strength to those who serve, and swift recovery to the affected communities."
"As a pilgrim Church in Latin America, we make our own the pain of our Venezuelan brothers and sisters and entrust them to the maternal protection of Our Lady of Coromoto," the bishops said, referring to the patroness of Venezuela.
Spanish Archbishop Luis Argüello of Valladolid, president of the Spanish bishops' conference, published a letter June 25 on behalf of the country's bishops expressing their "deepest fraternal closeness in these moments of great sorrow."
"We join you in prayer for the eternal rest of the deceased. We implore divine comfort for their families and a swift recovery for the hundreds of injured and displaced people who have lost their homes and livelihoods," Argüello wrote in the letter, which was addressed to Bishop Jesús González de Zárate, president of the Venezuelan bishops' conference.
"We also pray that the Lord will strengthen and enlighten the authorities, emergency teams, healthcare workers, and volunteers who are working tirelessly in rescue and relief efforts," he added.
