This Tuesday afternoon, the Almudena Cathedral in Madrid hosted the first public act of recognition for the victims and those affected by DANA, with the celebration of the Eucharist, presided over by Enrique Benavent, archbishop of Valencia, the province most affected. due to the flood, and the presence of numerous faithful and public authorities from Madrid. “I have perceived the sadness in their looks, their pain and their suffering,” Benavent confessed, in his homily when remembering his meetings with those affected and relatives of the DANA victims during his visits to several affected towns.
While waiting for a state funeral, for which neither date nor place has yet been specified, three weeks after the fateful flood of October 29, the mass celebrated in Madrid has become the first public memorial to the deceased in the floods that devastated Valencia and southeast Spain. Along with Benavent, 107 Spanish bishops, who are in Madrid for the Plenary Assembly of the Episcopal Conference, and the apostolic nuncio, Bernardito Auza, have concelebrated.
Among the public authorities, the presence of the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, and the mayor of the city, José Luis Martínez Almeida, stood out, along with members of the State security forces, such as UME, Guardia Royal, Civil Guard and National Police. Among the attendees were also representatives of other religious denominations, Orthodox and Evangelical Christians and the president of the Jewish Community of Madrid, Estrella Bengio.
In his opening statement, the president of the Episcopal Conference, Luis Argüello, expressed the Church’s “personal charity from closeness” to those affected and called for “concrete help and social and political action that are essential at the time of address reconstruction and care. Before the celebrants, in the presbytery, an image of the Virgin of the Forsaken, patron saint of Valencia, presided over the event as a sign of consolation for the Valencian faithful and those in attendance.
Benavent has referred precisely to this devotion in the last words of his homily to remember that “during these days we Valencians, and also the Holy Father, have directed our gazes full of love to him. “She shared the suffering of her Son and she also shares the suffering of all those who suffer right now.” «In Valencia we invoke her as Mare de Déu dels Desamparats. “Those who suffer the most are those who occupy the first place in her heart,” he explained, adding that those who now suffer “get to experience her comfort and maternal closeness.”
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