Journalists launch an initiative to deliver letters from survivors of the Venezuela earthquake to Pope Leo XIV

– OSV News / Junno Arocho Esteves

Since the pontificate of St. Paul VI, journalists covering the Vatican have had the unique privilege of direct access to the Vicar of Christ at an altitude of 30,000 feet.

Continuing a tradition adopted by his predecessors, Pope Leo XIV makes a point of walking down the narrow aisle of the cabin and greeting the journalists one by one, exchanging handshakes, gifts, or personal letters.

When Pope Leo XIV embarks on his apostolic visit to France In September, four Vatican journalists hope to take advantage of that brief moment to convey to the Pope the prayers, the suffering, and the fragile hopes of the people of Venezuela.

Venezuelan journalists Lola Gómez, Daniel Cáceres, and José Arnaldo Mujica, along with Costa Rican journalist Jovel Álvarez, launched “Letters to the Pope,” an initiative aimed at collecting letters from Venezuelans and rescue teams affected by the two earthquakes that devastated the country on June 24.

A way to support your homeland

Speaking to OSV News on July 23, Gómez, a Caracas-born photojournalist for Catholic News Service, said that she and her fellow journalists were looking for ways to support their homeland.

“When you’re far from your home country, you feel like you have to do something,” he said. “And we thought, since we’re here at the Vatican covering Pope Leo and we’re going to have an apostolic trip in September, how about we launch a channel for Venezuelans who survived the earthquakes and for the people who helped rescue them?”.

Instead of dealing with complex email or snail mail setups, the journalists created a Google Form to offer a “simpler” way for Venezuelans to “share their feelings, thoughts, or questions”—as well as photos—with the Pope.

The form will accept submissions until August 15. The letters will be compiled into a single volume and presented to Pope Leo aboard the papal flight on September 25.

According to Venezuelan officials, the death toll from the 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes that struck the northern state of La Guaira has surpassed 5,300. Thousands of people remain homeless as humanitarian workers continue recovery efforts.

Caritas Venezuela recently reported that the consumption of local aid is exceeding the amount received, which has prompted calls for financial donations to facilitate local purchases in response to changing needs.

Writing as a Way to Process Trauma

Gómez told OSV News that giving survivors and first responders the opportunity to write—rather than send a video or audio message—serves as a cathartic way for them to process the trauma they are currently experiencing.

“When you put your feelings and thoughts into words, it helps you process what you’ve been through,” he explained, adding that publishing a compiled volume will allow Pope Leo to read the texts “even on the plane if he has time.”.

“With letters, I think it’s more intimate,” he said. “It creates a private moment between the victims—or the people who want to share their feelings—and the Pope.”.

The response to the campaign has grown steadily, and as of July 23, the organizers had received dozens of letters from affected regions across Venezuela, according to Gómez. The initiative has sparked interest not only among local survivors but also among international emergency response teams deployed to the country following the disaster.

According to his account, Álvarez was contacted directly by Costa Rican rescue workers who were on the ground in Venezuela to ask how they could submit their testimonies.

“The first call we received… Jovel, who is actually from Costa Rica, received a call from the Costa Rican rescue workers who had been working in Venezuela after the earthquakes,” said Gómez, adding that the team expects the shipments to increase before the deadline.

“So we’re expecting more letters, but so far we’ve received 52 from all the areas of Venezuela that were affected,” he said.

Although he emphasized that the initiative is a collective effort with his fellow journalists, Gómez said that on every papal trip, he “always tries to bring Venezuela to the Pope,” in the hope that the personal letters will bring his suffering compatriots closer to the pontiff.

“We want them to feel that they’re not alone on this journey,” Gómez said. “Faith is very important for them to keep moving forward through this terrible ordeal they’re going through as they rebuild their lives, and they shouldn’t feel like they’re going through it alone.”.

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This news story was first published in English on OSV News. We are reprinting it on Omnes with permission. You can read the original article HERE.