The territory of the Diocese of Getafe, south of Madrid, Spain, is being especially hard hit by wildfires that have forced thousands of people to shelter in place or evacuate. The natural disaster finds the diocese\u2019s priests on the front lines, welcoming, accompanying, consoling, and praying.<\/p>\n
In the central area of \u200b\u200bSpain alone, 12 towns have been evacuated and another three are under a shelter-in-place order due to the wave of forest fires that in recent days have devastated thousands of acres. At least 50,000 people have been affected in the area.<\/p>\n
Faced with this human tragedy, the Catholic Church has set to work providing material aid, shelter, a listening ear, and the sacraments in efforts overseen by the auxiliary bishop of Getafe, Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda Avenda\u00f1o.<\/p>\n
Father \u00c1lvaro Pi\u00f1ero is the vicar of the parish in Villaviciosa de Od\u00f3n, one of the towns serving as a place of refuge for those fleeing the fires who had nowhere else to go. Throughout the weekend, he has been coordinating the aid provided by the parish to the more than 300 displaced people arriving from Chapiner\u00eda, Pelayos de la Presa, Navas del Rey, and other towns.<\/p>\n
Along with the residents, the parish priests from those towns are also being sheltered because as Pi\u00f1ero explained to ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News, \u201ceven when displaced, one remains a priest and continues to minister to the people of one\u02bcs town.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMany of the volunteers helping at the sports center are from Caritas or local confraternities from the town; they have ties to the parish,\u201d noted Pi\u00f1ero, who is from Valdemoro, a nearby town where he has gone to pick up hosts for Mass.<\/p>\n