Disaster Relief

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Jan. 14 that the first in a series of direct humanitarian shipments to Cuba “in close partnership with the Catholic Church” would take place the same day — as well as another Jan. 16 — as the island recovers from Hurricane Melissa.

The campus of Corpus Christi Church, which burned to the ground the night of Jan. 7, 2025, is fenced off, the mass of tangled debris now cleaned up. The Christmas lights that hung on the trees at the church’s entrance that night are still there, fused to the charred branches.

“Several dozen” people are presumed dead after a fire broke out in a bar packed with people celebrating the New Year in a Swiss ski resort bar.

The infectious bites have led to an untold number of Cubans suffering from high fevers, severe headaches, painful rashes and debilitating joint pain, emptying workplaces as well as church pews.

Churches and temples in Sri Lanka have been turned into emergency relief camps for thousands left stranded by Cyclone Ditwah, which brought heavy rains, flooding and landslides across the island nation.