Fundraising for L'Aquila - progress update

Felicity Surridge   |   13th September 2009

Before the summer break, we mentioned that St Joseph's parish wanted to do something practical to help the parishioners of San Raniero in Civita di Bagno, whose village was destroyed in April by the massive earthquake in the L'Aquila region of Central Italy.

The plight of this parish was highlighted to us by two of our parishioners who are friends of the local parish priest. They have just returned from visiting the parish to identify how we might best be able to help. Their findings are distressing.

Five months after the earthquake, this entire Catholic community of 297 is still living in tents. During the hot Summer months, they have been facing daily temperatures under canvas of over 40 degrees centigrade. The elderly, babies and those with breathing difficulties have been finding it increasingly difficult to cope and many have fallen ill. Unfortunately their problems are just beginning. This is a mountainous region and Winter falls early and hard. Tents are no places for the frail and vulnerable in sub-zero conditions - temperatures of as low as -20 degrees are not uncommon in this region. Wooden shelters promised by the government have failed to materialise and the latest estimated delivery date for these is now the end of the year.

We had originally thoughts that St Joseph's might be able to help with rebuilding the church and presbytery, but it is the immediate human suffering that needs to be given priority. For this reason, we will be focussing our attention on fund-raising events to develop an emergency fund that San Raniero's parish priest can use to meet the immediate needs of his people - whether it be providing temporary accommodation for the frail and elderly, or meeting urgent health care costs. We will also be looking to "twin" parish groups where possible with similar groups in San Raniero parish. This will have the dual benefit of encouraging a friendship to develop between our two parish priests and providing much-needed fraternal compassion and outside contact for our suffering brothers and sisters.

The appeal will be launched with a talk and display at all Sunday Masses in the next couple of weeks, but if you would like further information in the meantime, please contact Felicity and Malcolm Surrige at art@malcolmsurridge.co.uk.