27 Months with the Victims of the Earthquake

December 17, 2018
Published in Other news items

On August 24, 2016, at one o’clock in the morning, in the territory of the diocese of Rieti in central Italy, a violent earthquake completely destroyed the city of Amatrice as well as the surrounding villages. Responding to a request by the bishop, on the very next day the friars decided to assist the victims and went to live with the people in temporary shelters. They have been there for more than two years.

Now, after twenty-seven months, the friars have finished their mission among those who suffered the earthquake. On November 4, 2018, Mass was celebrated with the bishop of Rieti, Most Rev. Domenic Pompili.

We would like to share a little of what the people had to say about the Capuchin friars:

“On August 24, 2016 the life of our community was turned upside-down. Some lost loved ones, others lost friends, their homes, or their jobs. Some lost everything.

“But this very dark cloud had a silver lining, because this enormous tragedy allowed us to meet one family, a truly special family, the family of the Capuchin friars minor.

“You were the first to arrive here among us after that terrible night, together with the soldiers, volunteers, journalists, and politicians. Then, little by little, everyone left, the spotlights on us went out, and only the light of your eyes continued to be light for our journey.

“Now you are the last to ‘leave us’ – I say ‘leave us’ in quotation marks – because the human relationships that have been created with you in these twenty-seven months will live forever in our hearts.

“You have helped our community both spiritually and materially. You have celebrated the Mass, taken care of the cows, milked the sheep, cleaned the stalls, turned over the orchards, harvested the potatoes, eaten, drank, sung, danced, and prayed with us. In a single word you have lived with us, experienced our anxiety, our fears, our pain, but also our joys.

“You have been and will now always be an integral part of our lives.

“If I close my eyes and think of you, the first image that comes to mind is this: Br. Raffaele with the Body of Christ in his hands and arms raised to heaven … before him, gathered in prayer, about seventy people, behind him the imposing Pizzo di Sevo mountain standing out … a memorable day; I have never felt so close to God, a little because of the altitude, for I had never been to a Mass at 1,600 meters, and a little because of the love that you could sense in the air; people of all ages, from all parts of society, united in peace and in the love of God. After the Mass we all had lunch together, each of us having brought something that we shared willingly with our neighbor. I will never forget the light-hearted and cordial atmosphere, also because from those mountains you can see the whole of the region of Amatrice but from so far up you didn’t see the ruins and it seemed like time had stopped on August 23, 2016.

“All of this was possible thanks to you; you succeeded in uniting people who lived a few meters from one another but had never shared anything. If that’s not a miracle, it’s close.

“I take the opportunity to thank Bishop Domenico and the Provincial Minister Gianfranco, who have allowed all this to happen, and to thank in a particular way each of you friars.

“We human beings are creatures of habit and now that we are used to your presence … you will be missed!

With fondness, the whole community.”

We would like to invite you to watch a video that shows how the friars have served. It is in seven languages with subtitles. To activate the subtitles, click on the lower right button – ‘subtitles’ – and choose a language.

We invite you also to watch the other videos (only in Italian) of interviews and witness of the friars and the bishop who served in this place that has suffered so much on account of the earthquake. At the same time we are making available to you the galleries of photos taken after the earthquake in September 2016 as well as others taken in November 2017, which show the nature of the disaster.

Video with translation in 7 languages:

Amatrice. A year after the earthquake. Witness