Catholic Charities seeks donations to offer help amid California flooding, mudslides
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A person attempts to clear away debris from a mudslide as a powerful long-duration atmospheric river storm, the second in less than a week, continues to impact Southern California on Feb. 5, 2024, in Beverly Hills, California. / Credit: Mario Tama/Getty ImagesCNA Staff, Feb 7, 2024 / 15:15 pm (CNA).Record rainfall in Southern California led to flooding and landslides this week, particularly in the Los Angeles area, where the local branch of Catholic Charities is soliciting donations to help with relief efforts. After four straight days of heavy rain ended on Wednesday, some parts of the L.A. metro area, such as Bel Air, had received more than a foot of rain. Others received over half their average annual rainfall in a period of just two days.As of late Monday, Los Angeles authorities had responded to more than 475 mudslides, with 38 homes or buildings damaged by debris flows, including four that were deemed unsafe to enter, the Los Angeles Times reported. Nine people are c...
A person attempts to clear away debris from a mudslide as a powerful long-duration atmospheric river storm, the second in less than a week, continues to impact Southern California on Feb. 5, 2024, in Beverly Hills, California. / Credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images
CNA Staff, Feb 7, 2024 / 15:15 pm (CNA).
Record rainfall in Southern California led to flooding and landslides this week, particularly in the Los Angeles area, where the local branch of Catholic Charities is soliciting donations to help with relief efforts.
After four straight days of heavy rain ended on Wednesday, some parts of the L.A. metro area, such as Bel Air, had received more than a foot of rain. Others received over half their average annual rainfall in a period of just two days.
As of late Monday, Los Angeles authorities had responded to more than 475 mudslides, with 38 homes or buildings damaged by debris flows, including four that were deemed unsafe to enter, the Los Angeles Times reported. Nine people are confirmed dead so far in the region.
Alexandria Arnold, a spokeswoman for Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, told CNA that the geographic area they serve — which includes the counties of Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara — is facing flooding and mudslides expected to be some of the "largest and most significant in our counties' history."
"Catholic Charities of Los Angeles has a Disaster Relief Fund that will be used to help families and individuals who are suffering from the effects of the storm, and Catholic Charities USA is sending additional funding for disaster relief," Arnold said.
She encouraged people of goodwill to donate to the Disaster Relief Fund of Catholic Charities of Los Angeles online.
After years of serious drought, California endured an extremely wet 2023 that saw "atmospheric rivers" bring drenching rains and mudslides to parts of the state. One community affected last year was Montecito, located on the Pacific coast about 100 miles west of Los Angeles.
"Praise God, we got through the storm pretty well. No major damage here," Father Lawrence Seyer, pastor at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Montecito, California, told CNA this week via email.
"My basement flooded. Other than that we're doing good. I think Los Angeles had more devastation than we did up here."
A massive mudslide in January 2018 caused by similar weather conditions killed nearly two dozen people in Montecito. Almost exactly a year ago, the entire town was ordered to evacuate because of significant flooding, mudslides, and debris flows.
During the 2023 weather event in Montecito, Seyer said he was invoking the protection of St. Margaret of Hungary, who lived in the 13th century and is considered the patron saint of floods.
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null / Credit: ShutterstockCNA Staff, May 8, 2024 / 17:23 pm (CNA).A trio of Catholic radio networks has filed a petition against the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over new requirements that will soon mandate that all U.S. radio and television stations publish information about the race and gender of their employees.In a 3-2 ruling in February, the commissioners of the FCC reinstated a requirement that radio stations must annually file a document, known as Form 395-B, that lists the race and gender of their employees.The FCC governs radio stations transmitting on AM or FM frequencies, satellite radio and TV stations, cable networks, and broadcast TV stations. These entities are required to maintain a summary of publicly accessible information known as a public file, with varying requirements among the types of stations regarding what must be contained in the file.The FCC had not required Form 395-B since 2004, following a 2001 ruling by t...
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Servant of God Nino Baglieri. / Credit: ANS/SalesiansACI Prensa Staff, May 8, 2024 / 17:53 pm (CNA).The diocesan phase of the cause of beatification of the Servant of God Nino Baglieri has been closed in Modica, a town in southern Sicily. Overcoming his bitterness due to his quadriplegic condition, Baglieri gave himself to the mission of evangelizing through the means available to him. The closing of the diocesan phase, according to the Salesian News Agency, took place on Sunday, May 5, in Mother of St. Peter church, where a solemn Eucharist was celebrated by Salvatore Rumeo, the bishop of Noto. In his homily, the prelate related that on May 5, 1951, Baglieri received baptism, "becoming a Christian."Regarding the servant of God, he emphasized that "prayer for Nino was everything: Despite his suffering, like a light that shines and burns, he managed to infect others with the meaning of true prayer."Addressing the servant of God in prayer, Rumeo said: "We are grateful t...