Episcopal Church Responds to Nicaraguan Earthquake
Diocesan Press Service. January 8, 1973 [73011]
NEW YORK, N.Y. (DPS) -- The Episcopal Church, through its various channels, is responding with money and material aid to the pre-Christmas earthquake which destroyed Managua, the capital of Nicaragua.
Immediately after the disaster, which struck about 30 minutes after midnight on the morning of December 23, the Rt. Rev. John E. Hines, Presiding Bishop, called on all diocesan bishops to consider a special offering during January for emergency relief. In a telegram to the bishops, Bishop Hines set a goal of $100,000 for Nicaraguan Emergency Relief, to be channeled through the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief and interchurch Aid, the Episcopal Church's relief and disaster service, for "housing and medical aid plus money for re-building when plans are clearer. "
The Presiding Bishop's Fund immediately sent $10,000 from its emergency reserves to aid in the efforts to get food and other necessities to the thousands of homeless survivors of the earthquake.
The Presiding Bishop's Fund is also cooperating with Church World Service, the relief arm of the National Council of Churches to which it is related, which is seeking to raise a half million dollars for relief work.
The office of the Episcopal Church's Ninth Province, which includes the dioceses in the Latin America area, has set up emergency headquarters in the neighboring country of San Salvador, and a provincial team has been engaged in a food shuttle to victims in Managua, some 200 miles away.
The provincial relief team reported that most of the Episcopal community in Managua had survived the earthquake, but damage to their church property and homes was extensive. The three members of the relief team were the Rev. Onell Soto of El Salvador, executive secretary of the Ninth Province; the Rev. Luis Serrano, rector of All Saints in Managua; and the Rev. Jose Chiovarou of the Order of the Company of the Paraclete.
The Rt. Rev. Edward Haynsworth, Bishop of Nicaragua, and his family were on visitations in the Caribbean coastal area at the time of the disaster and are safe. The bishop has now returned to Managua and is directing Episcopal relief activities there.
Contributions may be sent to the Presiding Bishop's Fund (designated for Nicaraguan Emergency Relief), 815 Second Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017.
(NOTE: Several photographs of the relief efforts will be sent in a few days as soon as they can be processed. )