Florida Catholic - July 2021
9 YOUR MIAMI COMMUNITY
ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO
of the Florida Catholic staff
SURFSIDE Father Christopher Marino says he had never lived a moment like that. A chaplain for the City of Miami Fire Rescue for four years now, the rector of St. Mary Cathe- dral was at the site of the Champlain Towers South collapse July 1 when search and rescue crews located the 7-year-old daughter of a Miami firefighter. Working atop the rubble that day, just as they had every day since the 12-story building toppled without warning June 24, were search and rescue crews from around the U.S. and Israel as well as representatives of Hatzalah ("rescue" or "relief" in Hebrew), a volunteer emergency medical ser- vice organization serving Jewish communities around the world. Members of FEMA's Urban Search and Rescue Florida Task Force 2 found the little girl's body. They called her father, who was waiting nearby. He came with his brother, also a Miami firefight- er. Father Marino said the rescue crews - about 200 strong - briefly stopped their work, stood in total silence, and saluted as her father and uncle carried Stella Cattarossi away. At that moment, differences in religion, cul- ture, language and background gave way to a common humanity - and sorrow. They were mourning with their brothers. I've never experienced that," Father Marino said. "It was extraordinary." The work of search and rescue teams, espe-
Chaplain: Accompanying search and rescue is 'extraordinary privilege'
In addition to Father Christopher Marino, three deacons and two priests who work as volunteer chaplains have been present at the site of the collapse: Father Elkin Sierra, a former firefighter himself, is chaplain to Miami-Dade Fire and Rescue. Father Elvis Gonzalez, pastor of St. Michael the Archangel Parish, is chaplain to the City of Miami Police. Deacons Ralph Gazitua, Thomas Hanlon and Louis Phan Sang are chaplains to the Miami- Dade Police.
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cially in disasters such as this one, is difficult, to put it mildly. Since the collapse, more than 400 men and women have been working round-the- clock, under blazing sun, drizzling rain, even a couple of wind-driven downpours courtesy of tropical storm Elsa's brush past South Florida. The crews take turns resting in trailers and tents set up nearby. As of July 9, they had removed more than 13 million tons of concrete and debris from the site, according to Miami-Dade County Mayor Dani- ella Levine Cava. For 14 days, from a few hours after the collapse until the rescue turned into a recovery at midnight July 8, they had found no one alive. At that point, the death toll stood at 54 with 86 people still missing. It's hard work. Prayer is what gets us through it," said Capt. Omar Blanco of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and FEMA's Florida Task Force 1. Blanco is a member of St. John Neumann Par- ish in Miami and its LEAF (Law Enforcement and Firefighters) Emmaus group. When he spoke to the Florida Catholic July 2, he mentioned some- one had sent him a text message that morning with the passage from Exodus 14:14: "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." We have to stay focused on this job and make sure we do what God has put us here to do," Blan- co said. Father Marino has been at the site every day since the afternoon of the collapse. His role, he said via email, "is to be actively present to our personnel as a 'Father' and spiritual companion. Some of our folks aren't exactly sure what a Cath- olic priest is but most appreciate the fact that I represent' the 'presence of God' (though they are keenly aware that I myself am NOT God!)." Over the years, he said, he has regularly vis- ited the fire stations "just to hang around, go on calls" and get to know the crews. This has given him "a certain 'access' to hearts and lives. I have baptized many of their children, presided over weddings and buried members of their fami- lies." Since the collapse, he said, "I have lived this companionship in an intense way. I've had the privilege to be right there with them at the rub- ble and on breaks. We listen to each other, pray together at times. I try to help them - even as I struggle - to see beyond the broken buildings and bodies, appreciate their blessings, skills and families in a new way."
TOM TRACY
Florida Catholic correspondent
SURFSIDE After girding themselves with Eucharistic Adoration, rosary, songs and reflec- tions, the teens, young adults and parish com- munity of St. Joseph stepped out into the night air to solemnly walk to this city's new ground zero. For three hours - and all the way until mid- night Saturday night - the participants in the prayer vigil, organized June 26 in response to the Champlain Towers South partial collapse, turned their thoughts heavenward: 12 parish families were affected by the tragedy, 20 people in all. As of July 9, the bodies of 16 had been re- covered. Church leaders pointed out that many other victims were likely informally associated with the parish, as the area is popular with tour- ists and international visitors to Miami Beach. This was definitely a shock, but it is bring- ing people together in prayer; there has been a lot of people coming here to donate things," said George Sanchez, parish youth ministry leader and a resident of Allapattah in Miami. Our pastor (Father Juan Sosa) wanted the youth to be present and of course we responded with generosity, and we put together the best we could since this is the parish nearest the disaster and it is a place where people can come and pray and be with others who support them," Sanchez said. "It is just a space we are creating for anyone who wants to come and pray for their loved ones and to incite hope." Judith Montalvan, another of the parish youth leaders and a pilgrim to Panama's Worth Youth Day event in 2019, said the young people pub- licized the prayer vigil on Instagram and every other social media platform they could think of so that it would get to the people who need it most at this time." This is a kind of supervised space for people to come and be with God," Montalvan said. "I think in these moments when disasters happen, the one thing we know for a fact is that God is with us, and providing those spaces for people to come feel closer to him in a moment when we feel so alone and scared and all these negative emotions." The youth brought with them items and sym- bols of the fire and rescue, law enforcement and medical communities and placed them around the altar along with donations of flowers. Carrie Barillas, a member of the pastoral staff at St. Joseph who helped organize the event, said the parish has been inundated with calls of sup- port and people wishing to assist in some way. We have had an outpouring of calls over the last three days of people wanting to know about the families and asking what they can do; the parish community has really responded very well," Barillas said. There is so much chaos, if you will, with so many calls and trying to get everything orga- nized and provide spiritual support for those who need it," she added. "It is an experience you don't want to have to go through because it is sad, but at the same time you live the joy that Jesus gives us the strength to console and comfort oth- ers." The best part of the prayer vigil was the partic- ipation of the parish youth, according to Father Juan Rumn Domnguez, parochial vicar at St. Joseph who helped lead the prayers. We want to say to our community that Christ is our light, the light of hope in the middle of this difficult situation," the priest said. "We will pray for the victims and their families and especially
St. Joseph hosts adoration, candlelight vigil near site of ground zero
Right now, "just a hug can be the 'presence of God,'" Father Marino noted. "For me, it's been an extraordinary privilege."
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Father Christopher Marino, rector of St. Mary Cathedral, is also chaplain for the City of Miami Fire Rescue. He has been "the presence of God" among the search and rescue teams working in the rubble since the first day of the Champlain Towers South collapse.
we want to transmit our faith and hope in this situation; it is the thing we have to do as Catho- lics." The rescue workers are working there but this is our language: prayer, and we are praying for them," Father Dominguez added. Deacon John Ermer also helped lead the Eucharistic Adoration. He gave a reflection in which he said the community should keep in mind those persons who may question their faith as a result of the tremendous crisis. Some will find a loss of faith in the situation, wondering how could God let something like this happen, and that is a natural question for us," he told the congregation. We know that God challenges us with hard- ships throughout our lives. I think we need to pray twice as hard for people who ask that ques- tion because it is times like this, facing such tre- mendous loss, we have to make a decision," Dea- con Ermer said. "For those of us who are weak we may turn away from God and be lost forever. Let's pray especially for those people tonight whose faith is under tremendous pressure and who are questioning their faith."
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Above, St. Joseph Parish in Miami Beach and the parish youth ministry group hosted a eucharistic prayer and candlelight vigil June 26, 2021, including a walk through the neighborhood and close to the site of the Champlain Towers South partial collapse. At right, a youth group member holds up a candle during the vigil. (PHOTOS BY TOM TRACY FC)
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