Pope Leo XIV’s Peruvian goddaughter shares testimony

Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Oct 10, 2018 / 01:17 pm (ACI Prensa).- Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops’ charitable outreach, is providing first aid and sending material aid to the areas affected by the 5.9 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti Saturday.

The earthquake occurred at 8:12 pm Oct. 6 about 12 miles from the department of Porte-de-Paix. It lasted 53 seconds and was felt in eight out of ten of the country’s departments. A tsunami alert was not sent out after the earthquake.

Haiti’s Civil Defense department reported Oct. 8 that 15 people died, 333 were injured, and 7,000 homes were destroyed.

Beatriz Afanador, the CRS communications officer for Hispanoamerica and Latin America, told ACI Prensa via e-mail that a CRS team had already made an assessment of the emergency and that “a truck was due to arrive Oct. 9 with supplies including tarps for temporary shelters, hygiene kits with buckets, chlorine, shovels and other items.”

“The truck will be arriving sometime in the afternoon. Since the area is remote and extremely poor, a long term effort will have to be made to help them get the aid they need to rebuild or repair their homes and find the means to sustain themselves.”

CRS indicated in a communiqué that the most significant damage occurred in the departments of Nord Ouest and Artibonite.

“Most of the injuries in the Nord Ouest department were due to panic and resulting accidents. Due to the remote location and the available emergency medical services, the main hospitals in the affected areas report that they do not have the capacity to respond to the needs,” the statements says.

It was also reported that “the facade of the church in Plaissance was cracked, but there are no reports of damage to the main infrastructure. All the roads and bridges appear to be open at this time.”

Finally, CRS said that immediately after the earthquake there were reports of panic in many of the country’s cities.

“The injuries in Nord Ouest were mainly due to this reaction, including motorcycle accidents, cardiac arrest and premature birth. The population remains tense as rumors are circulating of a bigger earthquake,” the communiqué concludes.

CRS is currently working hand in hand with the Civil Defense, the Haitian Red Cross, and other NGOs that are aiding the affected areas.

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Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville delivers the St. Thomas Day Lecture at Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paul, Calif., Jan. 28, 2019. Photo courtesy of TAC. / null

Rome Newsroom, May 25, 2022 / 07:55 am (CNA).
Bishop Daniel Flores said on Wed… […]

Santiago, Chile, Mar 21, 2018 / 03:12 am (ACI Prensa).- Although he died in 1853, the legacy of Friar Andrés Garcia Acosta is as alive as ever in Santiago, Chile, through a soup kitchen bearing his name that feeds 150 people per day.

This outreach is part of the “Spoon Trail,” a Franciscan ministry where those in need can stop at different locations to receive breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Following the friar’s example, dozens of volunteers at “Friar Andresito’s Soup Kitchen” help feed the poor and homeless, including those facing addictions and prostitution.

For volunteers, the work is more than just an act of charity.

“This has meant everything to me,” volunteer Magdalena Urquhart told the postulator of the friar’s cause.

She said working with the poor has changed the way she viewed them. “Although in the beginning one has a certain amount of fear because there are a lot of alcoholics, a lot of drug addictions, they’re people who need a lot of love, for someone to listen to them.”

Rogelio Caroca, who has volunteered for seven years, considers Friar Andresito to be his friend and admires him because of his witness as “a simple man who generously practiced charity across the board.”

Andrés Garcia Acosta, known as Friar Andresito, was born in the Canary Islands on Jan. 10, 1800. He became acquainted with the Franciscan Order during his childhood and youth.

In 1832, he embarked for the Americas, in one of the great waves of migration from the island caused by famines, lack of employment, and droughts.

He arrived in Montevideo, Uruguay, and in 1834, he entered the Franciscan Order. In 1838 the government expelled the Franciscans from the country, and he traveled to Chile when he learned that the Franciscans of the Strict Observance had been reestablished there.

Friar Andresito was assigned to the Franciscan Church of the Strict Observance from 1839 to 1853. He served as almoner and helped out in the kitchen. As almoner he got to know the physical and spiritual needs of both the wealthy and the poor.

Friar Andresito was beloved and renowned by the people of his time. Besides being almoner, he visited jails and hospitals, attended to the sick and gave spiritual advice. He was known for his humility, dedication and joy.

On Sundays, he would distribute fruit and bread to the poor, an activity that today inspires “Friar Andresito’s Soup Kitchen.”

On Jan. 9, 1853, Friar Andresito came down with pneumonia. He died Jan. 14 and hundreds of people came to pay their respects.

On July 10, 1855, the friar’s remains were exhumed, and his body was found incorrupt.

In 1927, the “Friar Andrés Brotherhood” was founded and spread throughout Chile. In 1977, the “Friends of Friar Andresito” society was established, with devotees in Chile, Argentina, Bolivia and the United States.

Pope Francis recognized Friar Andresito’s heroic virtues June 8, 2016 and he was declared venerable.

This article was originally published by our sister agency, ACI Prensa. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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