My heart is deeply pained to see Hurricane Helene’s path of destruction in the southern United States stretching from Florida through Appalachia. Many precious lives have been cut short. Many homes, businesses, and communities have been obliterated.

I encourage everyone to be a beacon of hope for those left standing in the wake of this devastation through frequent prayer and generous support of the relief efforts taking place. Catholic Charities USA is coordinating the temporal response, and local Catholic Charities agencies are providing life-sustaining assistance. Learn how you can contribute to the effort here. The work of recovery will be monumental in scale and ongoing for quite some time. Let us be the hands of Christ for our suffering brothers and sisters now and in the coming months.

In the name of the people of our local Church, I pray that God will bring comfort to those in mourning, protect the first responders and repair crews working on the ground, and pour His mercy upon all those impacted by this natural disaster.

Most Reverend Nelson J. Pérez, D.D.
Archbishop of Philadelphia

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