(OSV News) ─ Deadly July 4 flash floods in western Texas have so far claimed at least 107 lives, including those of 27 children at a Christian summer camp.
After his pastoral visit to flood-ravaged Kerr County, Texas, over the July 4 holiday weekend -- which included the celebration of Mass at Notre Dame Catholic Church in Kerrville -- Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller of San Antonio spoke with OSV News about faith, suffering and compassion amid the tragedy.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
OSV News: Having celebrated Mass with and for flooding victims, and as search and recovery efforts continue, what are you seeking to bring to your flock at this tragic time?
Archbishop García-Siller: As a shepherd, the main element that I bring -- and it's so important -- is accompaniment.
I was with them on Friday (July 4) where the reunification of families was taking place. Many of them I didn't know; I knew a few people there -- parents, grandparents -- but just to be with them (all) at that moment, there is a connection.
Besides that, when we accompany people in suffering or in tragic situations like this, we also go through some kind of process ourselves.
So, I experienced that, and that in some way helped me to -- not to understand, because it's hard to understand these things, (but) to at least to be open and ready for the encounter that I had at Notre Dame Parish in Kerrville. I was able to visit with families (who have) missing loved ones (due to the floods). One lady said, "My sister and her family are missing, and they have a few children. The youngest is 2 years old."
(Some) are afraid, because they are immigrants, so you can imagine (their emotions).
OSV News: So along with the fear of the floods, some were also frightened of immigration detention and deportation?
Archbishop García-Siller: Exactly. It's just horrible. But that is their experience.
OSV News: In addition to fear, what other emotions were in evidence?
Archbishop García-Siller: When they were able to reunite with their child or loved one, they didn't even know how to express the joy, because they are a little bit numb in the waiting, in the uncertainty. So that's why accompaniment is important; that's why it's important to be there (for them), because every family … every person who is waiting, or learning the information (about their loved ones), or meeting the survivors, is different.
After the Mass (on July 6 at Notre Dame Church), I talked to some families. There were a lot of people in the church, and they were very engaging. But you can tell the heaviness in their hearts. Yet if they were there, it was because they have hope. It was a sense of community, of those who feel that they are not alone. They have one another.
To walk alone in these situations, it's almost as if your life doesn't have an end, the journey doesn't have another side. But walking with others is different.
OSV News: As a shepherd, one of the hardest things for you must be to explain why God permits such destruction and death at the hands of the nature he created -- and especially when the victims include children and people of faith. Have you been confronted with that question in this case, and if so, how have you responded?
Archbishop García-Siller: Of course I've been confronted (with the question), and many times: "Where is God in all of this?" I think it's an understandable cry -- and the Lord hears the cry of the people. If we, in our limitation, can hear the cry of the people, (surely) God is willing to hear the cry of his people.
God hears the cry of his people. And we should not be afraid to do that. We need to even help people to express their cry to God. God can handle it.
We who are not in that moment experiencing directly the effects of the crisis, are (still) all touched by it, but in different ways. We are able to know that people need to express those things.
We know that is what people are saying: "This is too much. … I cannot handle it. I don't understand. Not only a piece of my heart is broken or experiencing hurt -- my whole heart hurts." That's what I saw on Friday.
OSV News: How, in the midst of this Good Friday moment wrought by the flooding, do we hold onto the hope of the Resurrection?
Archbishop García-Siller: In the way that happened at the very crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. At that time, do you think that the Apostles, the Blessed Mother and those who knew Jesus in one way or another were thinking about the Resurrection? They were contemplating (the crucifixion). We need to leave the moment the way it is.
It's like prayer. I remember going to confession many years ago, and one priest was just telling me, "You want to pray in the way you cannot. (Instead), pray in the way you can."
And so people are going, as you say, through this crucifixion -- this passion, this moment of pain, suffering, sorrow, hurt. Respect the moment. Respect the people. What they need is to absorb well what they are going through.
I mentioned to some people yesterday (July 6), "You know, the history of these people in this situation is sacred, and we are not called to push them to some place that they cannot be or that we wish them to be."
And also, may history ratify what has happened. … because to erase people's lives, now that they are going through suffering … is a serious matter. Because people's lives matter, and people's deaths matter, and the journey matters.
This is a time of a lot of humility. Another thing that I experienced last Friday was vulnerability. I saw it in the people; they were in silence, very orderly, getting ready to give information and also waiting patiently to receive information, which is remarkable in itself.
But then to know they were not expressing their feelings -- I said, "It is because they are vulnerable; we are vulnerable."
I experienced my own vulnerability too. I would not bring my theology, my Scriptures, my understanding of life and death and resurrection (amid such raw pain). And so I felt vulnerable, because what then do you do?
It's a ministry of presence: touch the person, look at the eyes. When I looked at their eyes, there was sadness -- deep sadness, not a passing sadness, a very deep sadness. And besides the sadness, it was uncertainty, the fear of horrible news -- that feeling in-between, knowing that your (missing) daughter, or your friend was (out) there, but not knowing the next piece of information. It was a very crucial moment, very difficult.
Even if that person at this point has feelings against the Lord -- God can handle everything and anything. For us, we need to accompany them in that moment, not fix it.
OSV News: We tend to want to fix things and also forget them.
Archbishop García-Siller: That's right, and that's why we should not forget this history. Remember this, (even though) it's very hard. This is part of your life -- a loved one survived, or died. Sometimes we want to have some kind of answer to resolve (the uncertainty), because we cannot handle it. Be humble, and suffer with the other person.
OSV News: That is literally the meaning of the word "compassion," which was Pope Leo XIV's prayer intention for the month of June.
Archbishop García-Siller: Yes. Of course, first of all, prayer (is essential). In that prayer, (we ask), "How can I be compassionate with the people around me right now? How can I increase compassion and be patient with the people that I am now (with)?"
It will be a long way. I walked with the people in Uvalde (the Texas town which in May 2022 experienced a mass school shooting that killed 19 children and two adults). After three years, and though some good things have been happening, it's still a ways to go. So this (flooding) situation will take a long, long time (to heal). People don't recover from this quickly.
We all need to do something. Wherever we are at in the world, humanity will be better, will be lifted up, (if we pray and exercise compassion), and it will be easier to see the signs of the Resurrection.
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Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Follow her on X @GinaJesseReina.
