Archbishop pleads for charity workers, high school students trapped in Afghanistan

Jonah McKeown   By Jonah McKeown for CNA

August 27, 2021 Catholic News Agency News Briefs 2 Print

Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco, before the Monstrance in Eucharistic Adoration in 2021. / Dennis Callahan/Archdiocese of San Francisco

Denver Newsroom, Aug 27, 2021 / 11:00 am (CNA).

A group of California high school students and their families are among those Americans currently trapped in Afghanistan, and the archbishop of San Francisco is pleading for prayers for their safe return.

A number of students from the Cajon Valley School District, near San Diego, were in Afghanistan for a summer experience when the Taliban seized control of the country on Aug. 15.

According to the most recent update from the school district on Friday morning, there are, “to the best of our knowledge,” 14 Cajon Valley Union students and eight parents who remain stranded.

“I ask for your prayers that these American children will be rescued from grave danger, along with their parents and chaperons. In dark and dangerous times, Christ Jesus gives us the courage to hope,” Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco wrote in an Aug. 25 message.

Cordileone also requested prayers for a San Francisco-area charity that operates in Afghanistan, and which is facing a similar uncertainty about staffers’ escape back to the United States. Roots for Peace, a group based in San Rafael that does agricultural charity work in Afghanistan, saw its compound overrun by the Taliban, he said.

More than 350 Afghan employees are stranded and the organization has been given “hours” to get them out of the country, according to the charity’s founder Heidi Kuhn.

“For all Catholics, I am requesting your urgent prayers to Our Lady of Sorrows on behalf of these workers. This is just one tragedy of many that will unfold as Christians along with Muslim Afghans who worked with Americans are targeted by the Taliban,” Cordileone urged.

Militants with the Taliban, an Islamic extremist group, seized control of Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul on Aug. 15. The group’s rapid advance came as many Afghan civilians and U.S. citizens sought to leave the country before the complete withdrawal of U.S. and other forces.

At least tens of thousands of people are still reportedly looking to leave Kabul in the coming days.

“The crisis unfolding in Afghanistan as we speak is unspeakably sad and horrifying,” Archbishop Cordileone said. “It is also unspeakably urgent that we call in solidarity for action by the U.S. government to protect these people.”

Amid the chaos, 13 U.S. service members and scores of Afghans have been killed in the past two days in two suicide bombings carried out by ISIS in Khorasan outside Kabul’s airport, the Pentagon has confirmed. The death toll of the bombings according to the Afghan health ministry is at least 170 people, CBS News reported.

An official at Roots of Peace confirmed to CNA on Friday that no members were injured or lost in the explosions, but that there had still been no “breakthroughs” in evacuating members from Afghanistan.

Numerous U.S. bishops have spoken out on the situation in Afghanistan and urged Catholics to pray and contribute aid. The U.S. bishops’ conference tweeted on Thursday, “Let’s take a moment to pray for those who have lost their lives at the #Kabul_Airport this morning, including several U.S. citizens. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. Amen.”

The conference also shared a link where Catholics can offer aid to incoming Afghani refugees.

Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA said he received news of the bombings while in San Diego for an archdiocesan convocation.

“I immediately joined the assembled priests to pray for the repose of their souls and the consolation of their families,” he said on Friday of the slain U.S. service members. “Together we beg the Prince of Peace for a time of dialogue and a profound respect for the priceless value of human life.”

Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore condemned Thursday’s attacks, tweeting that he was “heartbroken by the increasingly violent events occurring in Afghanistan and the senseless loss of precious life.”

“Acts of terror are an attack against all of us and have no place in a civilized or just society. Please, I urge the members of our Archdiocese of Baltimore to join Our Holy Father, Pope Francis and our global community to pray for peace and an open dialogue that creates a path to solutions not more death and suffering.”

Cardinal Blase Cupich tweeted Thursday: “Let us pray for all involved in the attack outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan today. May our thoughts and prayers give their families and loved ones the strength needed during this difficult time.”

The New York Catholic Conference tweeted: “Please join us in praying for the U.S. service members and all who were killed or injured in today’s horrific terrorist attacks in #Kabul.”

Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia tweeted: “I ask all Catholics and people of good will to pray for those killed in Kabul and all injured in today’s devastating attack. May their families know God’s healing love at this challenging time. Pray also that this developing situation finds peaceful resolution.”

Bishop Joe Vasquez of the Diocese of Austin invoked the intercession of St. Thomas the Apostle, patron saint of Afghanistan, praying that “our brothers and sisters be comforted, and may their physical, mental, and spiritual wounds be mended through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Afghanistan is over 99% Muslim, with the majority being Sunni. There are small groups of Christians, estimated to total between 10,000 and 12,000 people, including about 200 Catholics. Buddhists, Hindus, and Baháʼís also reside in the country, along with one Jewish man.

The Taliban previously controlled Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001. imposing a strict interpretation of Sharia law. Converting from Islam, seen as “apostasy” under Sharia, is a crime punishable by death.

Many Christians suffered harassment and intimidation in Afghanistan even before the Taliban takeover; converts to Christianity are the frequent target of Islamic extremist groups. Christians in the country fear that Taliban attacks on Christian communities, including “mafia-style killings,” will start soon.

In 2019, some church leaders in Afghanistan— about 30 in total— agreed to change their religious affiliation to “Christian” on national identity cards which all Afghans are required to carry. Government records thus now identify them as Christians, making them targets for Taliban harassment, World reported.

Representatives of aid organizations and others told CNA Wednesday that Afghan Christians and others whose names appear on U.S. government lists of qualified evacuees are being turned away at the airport in Kabul.

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News Briefs

Why some Camp Fire victims don’t ask for help, and what parishes are doing

December 5, 2018 CNA Daily News 1

Sacramento, Calif., Dec 5, 2018 / 02:43 pm (CNA).- Though a series of devastating wildfires in California is nearly contained, Catholics engaged in relief efforts are warning that the recovery process will be long, and will disproportionately affect undocumented immigrants and the poor, who may not be able to avail themselves of government-provided services.  

Nearly 90 have died in the Northern California fire known as the Camp Fire, though the number of people still missing has dropped from thousands to a list of just 11. The fire began Nov. 8 and as of Dec. 3, the blaze was entirely contained, after having consumed 150,000 acres of land and 18,000 structures.

John Watkins, director of Catholic Charities for the Diocese of Sacramento, told CNA that several local aid organizations have been coordinating efforts to help survivors, setting up booths and holding events at the Disaster Resource Center (DRC) in Chico, CA.

Participating groups include local St. Vincent de Paul chapters, Catholic Charities USA, Catholic Charities of California and Northern Valley Catholic Social Service (NVCSS). The Red Cross, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the local Mexican Consulate are also involved.

“NVCSS will primarily be involved in the second phase of the disaster recovery with Crisis Counseling and Disaster Case Management,” Watkins told CNA in an email.  

“They will likely be hiring dozens of disaster case managers to respond to the Camp Fire. This may not happen for another 4-6 months. The [disaster case management] program will accompany the families for 24 months until they are stabilized.”

In the meantime, Watkins said, the agency is seeking to hire a coordinator to serve families who will not qualify for federal assistance, many of whom are undocumented. He said the NVCSS immigration table at the relief center has helped at least 50 people who lost their immigration documentation in the fire.

The diocese is also providing free school tuition to about 20 students displaced by the fire.

Father Michael Ritter, pastor at St. John the Baptist parish in Chico, told CNA that over 160 members of his parish have been volunteering at the disaster center in Chico through the leadership of St. Vincent de Paul.

“They’re doing intake and assessment, they’re doing gift cards, we’ve been giving out some donated goods that we’ve received, and hygiene kits and whatnot…as of a couple of days ago we had done intake for more than 2,000 families,” Ritter told CNA.  

Ritter said the parish has its own drop-in center, open Friday evenings and Sundays, to help bring a variety of services to people in need. The need for housing, gift cards for groceries, and gasoline is still particularly acute, but prayer for the victims of the fire is also greatly needed, he said.

Ritter said for many undocumented members of the community in need, and even for legal immigrants who may have lost their documentation in the fire, there is a discomfort with approaching FEMA— a federal agency— at the DRC.

“Our hope is that the parish provides a place of greater confidence or trust, where people who maybe wouldn’t be able to approach a federal agency for support can get the same kinds of service,” he said.

Ritter said although the parish events and resources are meant to provide help for anyone, and are not being particularly marketed to the undocumented, it is clear that “the parish provides a safer place for people who would have concerns going directly to FEMA, or for people who FEMA wouldn’t be able to help.”

“What the Church does offer is help for anyone who needs help, and whether one’s documented or not is not a question,” he said.  

“Our strength, particularly as a parish, is the human element in terms of meeting people and empathy, and our effort to be present…It really is incredible to be a witness to some of the great solidarity that we’re seeing. This has definitely changed the culture of Butte County.”

Outside of Chico, the small California city of Paradise was almost completely destroyed by the fire. Nearly all the buildings belonging to St. Thomas More Parish succumbed to the blaze.

Jim Collins, leader of relief efforts at the parish, said volunteers have set up a call center to contact parishioners who are still unaccounted for. As of last week, the volunteers had made contact with just twenty percent of the parish list; the rest were unaccounted for, or had likely lost their landline service in the fire.

“We have an expectation of about 80% [of our 800 parishioners] burned out of their homes, and maybe 20% [of their homes] still standing,” Collins told CNA. “About 80% across the board have lost everything.”

“What we’d like to do now is to direct donations to those most in need, so we worked out kind of a triage to identify those most in need who would normally be those who did not own homes, who were living in rentals that were totally destroyed, and have no insurance compensation coming,” Collins said.

“And also those living in trailers or trailer parks, and that’s a substantial number of our parishioners because it’s kind of a low-income area up in Paradise.”

Ritter said that ongoing support will be important for people in communities like Paradise.

Although there is generally “a huge and very emotional” outpouring of support for victims of a disaster within the first 48 hours, he said, resources will still be needed in six months or a year after the fire.

While individuals and corporations have made generous donations in response to the disaster, “my big ask for people is not to lose that enthusiasm because we’re talking about many months or even years for a real recovery here,” he said.

“The need for aid is going to be just as real [six months or a year from now] as it is now.”

 

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1 Comment

  1. Unbelievable! Obviously from this report these individuals, apparently curiosity seekers departed the US in spite of State Department warnings to not enter these Middle East territories! Consequences are a bitter source of education!

    Reply

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