Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Chaiten (Agenzia Fides) - Two weeks after the eruption of the Chaiten volcano in southern Chile, uncertainty remains. The Church’s aid groups in Chile have raised over 61 million pesos to help victim families in the country’s southern region. Right now, there is a special need for domestic goods.
The emergency evacuation of Chaiten’s inhabitants after the volcanic eruption has caused a situation of uncertainty and instability that makes it harder for performing an assessment as of yet. In order to return to normal life, there is a need for staple items, employment, and all kinds of aid in order for people to establish their livelihood in other geographic locations or return to their place of origin.
The Church’s aid groups in Chile are working together to help victims of this tragedy. In Puerto Montt, Ancud, Osorno, and Villarrica, personnel from the diocesan group of Caritas are helping families and in many dioceses throughout the country, centers have been organized to collect material aid.
In these past two weeks, the calls and messages regarding donations and offering aid have been constant. Many people, businesses, and institutions have organized aid campaigns to help victims. In many universities and schools, collections have been held and they are helping out with volunteer projects for accompanying and entertaining children, or with projects like the one carried out by students at the Centro Educacional Técnico Profesional CODEDUC in Maipu, who wrote letters of encouragement to the children in Chaiten.
In the Cathedral of Puerto Montt, a Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Cristian Caro Cordero, for the inhabitants of Chaiten and Futalufu. Bishop Juan Maria Agurto of the Diocese of San Carlos de Ancud and Redemptorist Fathers from the Province of Palena participated in the celebration. Archbishop Cordero said that the liturgy, “is a moment of prayer for the family and all the people suffering; as well as a moment to strengthen our faith, trust in God, hope in the future and especially as a call to solidarity. Strengthen these three great virtues through this liturgy: faith, hope, and charity.” At the close of the liturgy, there was a presentation of an image of Our Lady of Lourdes, patroness of Chaiten, asking that as Mother, She would grant them the hope, comfort, and strength they are so in need of at this moment.
The Chaiten volcano began activity at around 2am on Friday, May 2, with an explosion and a plume of ash that authorities at first attributed to a neighboring volcano. Following the eruption, 4,500 inhabitants were completed evacuated from the town, which the volcano left covered with a thick layer of ash and without drinking water.
The ash has reached a fair distance, as far as the other side of the border, in Argentina.
The awakening of Chaiten has taken place five months after the eruption of the volcano Llaima, also situated in southern Chile. The country has the second largest and most active volcanic chain in the world, after Indonesia. In Chile, there are over 2,000 volcanoes, 500 of which have been classified by experts as potentially active. Of these 500, between 50-60 have registered eruptions. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 19/5/2008; righe 41, parole 522)
