Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott declared a day of prayer throughout the state as the death toll from catastrophic flooding July 4 has risen to 132 people as of press time July 16, including 28 children in Kerr County. More than 160 people remain missing, according to reports.
A search remains underway for at least 10 girls and a camp counselor still missing from Camp Mystic, a Christian, girls-only sleep-away camp in Hunt, Texas. The camp’s director, Richard “Dick” Eastland, perished while trying to save campers.
“Texans are known for their faith, strength and resilience,” said Abbott, who is Catholic. “Even as floodwaters raged, neighbors rushed in to rescue, comfort and bring hope. In times of loss, we turn to God for comfort, healing and strength.”
The state received prayers from Rome as Pope Leo XIV spoke of the horrific events at his July 6 Sunday Angelus talk.
“I would like to express sincere condolences to all the families who have lost loved ones, in particular their daughters, who were at the summer camp, in the disaster caused by flooding of the Guadalupe River in Texas in the United States,” he said, adding, “We pray for them.”
The Archdiocese of San Antonio asked for the intercession of St. Anthony of Padua for “our communities in need.” In a social media post, it prayed for “families who have lost loved ones, homes or livelihoods due to the recent flooding in the Hill Country, that they may find strength and healing through Christ.”
The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston posted prayers in English and Spanish for those affected by the flooding, saying, “in this time of uncertainty and sorrow, we unite ourselves to the Good Shepherd and ask for His protection and comfort over the victims, families and first responders. We entrust the souls of those who passed to the mercy of Our Heavenly Father, and we seek the intercession of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, imploring her assistance in the rescue of those still missing.”
Among the dead were two sisters from St. Rita’s Catholic Church in Dallas, Blair and Brooke Harber, 13 and 11 years old. The girls were camping with family along the Guadalupe River. According to a GoFundMe for the family, the girls loved religion class and had their rosaries with them on the trip. The sisters’ bodies were found 15 miles away with their hands clasped together.
The girls’ parents were in a separate cabin and were able to survive the flood, but their grandfather’s body was found and their grandmother is presumed dead.
“Please keep the Harber family in your prayers during this time of profound grief. May our faith, our love and our St. Rita community be a source of strength and comfort in the days ahead,” St. Rita’s pastor, Father Joshua J. Whitfield, said. (Read more on page 15.)
Notre Dame Catholic Church in Kerrville, where Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller of San Antonio celebrated a Mass following the tragedy, has been a hub of material and spiritual support for the devastated community. The outpouring of support has been so great that the church has paused collection of food, water, clothes and cleaning supplies, although financial donations are still being accepted.
“We were overwhelmed by the amount of support that has poured in over the last two days,” the parish said in a July 6 Facebook post, which included pictures of dozens of cases of bottled water, paper products, shelf-stable food, diapers and cleaning supplies.
The parish is praying a nightly rosary at 6:30 p.m. for flood victims, the missing, first responders and volunteers. “All are invited, parishioner or not, Catholic or not, to join us” in prayer, said the parish.
— Lauretta Brown, OSV News
You can still give to help our brothers and sisters in need
It’s not too late to give to a special collection to benefit victims of the recent catastrophic flooding in Texas, which has devastated communities – killing more than 130 people, including dozens of children, and leaving 160 more missing and many others homeless.
While the collection was taken up at Masses July 12-13, you can still donate online.
All funds raised will support those impacted, providing immediate essentials such as food, clean water, clothing and hygiene supplies, while also contributing to long-term recovery efforts as individuals and families rebuild their lives and communities.
To donate, make checks payable to your parish or give through your parish’s online giving platform. Please note “Texas Flooding” on the check memo line or online form.
All donations will be sent to support the Archdiocese of San Antonio’s Catholic Charities agency.
The only answer to flood tragedy is Easter, says Texas priest at the center of the storm
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The only answer to flood tragedy is Easter, says Texas priest at the center of the storm
Days after July 4 flash floods ravaged Texas’ Hill Country, OSV News spoke with Father Joshua Whitfield, pastoral administrator of St. Rita Catholic Community in Dallas.A married former Episcopal priest and the father of five children, Father Whitfield joined the Catholic Church along with his family and was ordained as a Catholic priest in 2012, through St. John Paul II’s provision for the reception of Episcopal clergy into full communion with the Catholic Church.
Father Whitfield shared how the floods have impacted his parish, which counts several victims – including Blair Harber, 13, and Brooke Harber, 11, sisters who were vacationing with their parents along the Guadalupe River, and whose bodies were found with their hands clasped. Parents RJ and Annie Harber, who is a teacher at St. Rita Catholic School, survived.
OSV News: The Harber family’s loss has made world headlines. How are they holding up?
Father Whitfield: The Harbers are just holding each other day by day and getting through it.
The tragedy is hard to measure. It’s impossible to measure, hard to even think about comprehending, and its scale is part of what makes it so overwhelming. You’re just in a twist of emotions, from sadness to anger to cold numbness; all of it.And when that’s your reality, you have to go back to basics and rely on the very simple, strong truths of the faith, and that’s love of God and love of neighbor.
Annie and RJ and the girls, Brooke and Blair – they’re people of real faith. Both Brooke and Blair were servers at Mass. And so their Catholic faith was just a real and ordinary and constant part of their lives. So, being hit by this tragedy, they have been forced to rely on that, and faith has been kind of like muscle memory.
And we’ve talked about this – the brain goes in a thousand different directions and asks a thousand different questions as to why. But honestly, there are no answers.
There’s only Easter. And so the faith that they have in Christ’s presence, in Christ’s resurrection and in the reality of heaven is that sort of central, simple, strong truth that I was talking about. It’s in moments like this that you realize that all of that is true, and real.
OSV News: How many other families in your parish were impacted by the flooding?
Father Whitfield: At least four or five families in our parish. We had one of our second-graders who was rescued from a tree from Camp Mystic. She was in a tree with other girls and some girls didn’t make it.
That’s what we’re dealing with. We’ve got multiple families we’re having to care for, and we need to give everybody the right space and care that they need.
This is a multi-casualty event spiritually, psychologically.
OSV News: As a priest, when you’re confronted with that question of why does God allow bad things to happen, what do you say?
Father Whitfield: To be honest, for me to speak as simply as I can theologically and philosophically and biblically on the matter is this – when the question comes, and when the conversation is possible, (I say): Look, God created a beautiful universe, a beautiful world in radical freedom and contingency. And it’s also a world that is broken by sin.
So when you ask the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do you have a flood that kills over 200 people, many of them children?”– there is no answer to that question.
The only experience that awaits the person who asked that question is the experience of Job, who asked God the same question.
The answer is Easter. Because the core of the Gospel is not an explanation for why things happen. The core of the Gospel is the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, suffered as one of us, died as one of us, and rose again as one of us.
This is where there is so much strength in the Catholic faith and the Church. We know how to pray for each other and care for each other.
— Gina Christian, OSV News
Walking, suffering with Texas flood victims crucial, says San Antonio archbishop
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Walking, suffering with Texas flood victims crucial, says San Antonio archbishop
TEXAS — Deadly July 4 flash floods in western Texas have so far claimed at least 107 lives, including those of 27 children at a Christian summer camp.After his pastoral visit to flood-ravaged Kerr County, Texas, over the July 4 holiday weekend -- which included the celebration of Mass at Notre Dame Catholic Church in Kerrville -- Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller of San Antonio spoke with OSV News about faith, suffering and compassion amid the tragedy.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
OSV News: Having celebrated Mass with and for flooding victims, and as search and recovery efforts continue, what are you seeking to bring to your flock at this tragic time?
Archbishop García-Siller: As a shepherd, the main element that I bring -- and it's so important -- is accompaniment.
I was with them on Friday (July 4) where the reunification of families was taking place. Many of them I didn't know; I knew a few people there -- parents, grandparents -- but just to be with them (all) at that moment, there is a connection.
Besides that, when we accompany people in suffering or in tragic situations like this, we also go through some kind of process ourselves.
So, I experienced that, and that in some way helped me to -- not to understand, because it's hard to understand these things, (but) to at least to be open and ready for the encounter that I had at Notre Dame Parish in Kerrville. I was able to visit with families (who have) missing loved ones (due to the floods). One lady said, "My sister and her family are missing, and they have a few children. The youngest is 2 years old."
(Some) are afraid, because they are immigrants, so you can imagine (their emotions).
OSV News: So along with the fear of the floods, some were also frightened of immigration detention and deportation?
Archbishop García-Siller: Exactly. It's just horrible. But that is their experience.
OSV News: In addition to fear, what other emotions were in evidence?
Archbishop García-Siller: When they were able to reunite with their child or loved one, they didn't even know how to express the joy, because they are a little bit numb in the waiting, in the uncertainty. So that's why accompaniment is important; that's why it's important to be there (for them), because every family … every person who is waiting, or learning the information (about their loved ones), or meeting the survivors, is different.
After the Mass (on July 6 at Notre Dame Church), I talked to some families. There were a lot of people in the church, and they were very engaging. But you can tell the heaviness in their hearts. Yet if they were there, it was because they have hope. It was a sense of community, of those who feel that they are not alone. They have one another.
To walk alone in these situations, it's almost as if your life doesn't have an end, the journey doesn't have another side. But walking with others is different.
OSV News: As a shepherd, one of the hardest things for you must be to explain why God permits such destruction and death at the hands of the nature he created -- and especially when the victims include children and people of faith. Have you been confronted with that question in this case, and if so, how have you responded?
Archbishop García-Siller: Of course I've been confronted (with the question), and many times: "Where is God in all of this?" I think it's an understandable cry -- and the Lord hears the cry of the people. If we, in our limitation, can hear the cry of the people, (surely) God is willing to hear the cry of his people.
God hears the cry of his people. And we should not be afraid to do that. We need to even help people to express their cry to God. God can handle it.
We who are not in that moment experiencing directly the effects of the crisis, are (still) all touched by it, but in different ways. We are able to know that people need to express those things.
We know that is what people are saying: "This is too much. … I cannot handle it. I don't understand. Not only a piece of my heart is broken or experiencing hurt -- my whole heart hurts." That's what I saw on Friday.
OSV News: How, in the midst of this Good Friday moment wrought by the flooding, do we hold onto the hope of the Resurrection?
Archbishop García-Siller: In the way that happened at the very crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. At that time, do you think that the Apostles, the Blessed Mother and those who knew Jesus in one way or another were thinking about the Resurrection? They were contemplating (the crucifixion). We need to leave the moment the way it is.
It's like prayer. I remember going to confession many years ago, and one priest was just telling me, "You want to pray in the way you cannot. (Instead), pray in the way you can."
And so people are going, as you say, through this crucifixion -- this passion, this moment of pain, suffering, sorrow, hurt. Respect the moment. Respect the people. What they need is to absorb well what they are going through.
I mentioned to some people yesterday (July 6), "You know, the history of these people in this situation is sacred, and we are not called to push them to some place that they cannot be or that we wish them to be."
And also, may history ratify what has happened. … because to erase people's lives, now that they are going through suffering … is a serious matter. Because people's lives matter, and people's deaths matter, and the journey matters.
This is a time of a lot of humility. Another thing that I experienced last Friday was vulnerability. I saw it in the people; they were in silence, very orderly, getting ready to give information and also waiting patiently to receive information, which is remarkable in itself.
But then to know they were not expressing their feelings -- I said, "It is because they are vulnerable; we are vulnerable."
I experienced my own vulnerability too. I would not bring my theology, my Scriptures, my understanding of life and death and resurrection (amid such raw pain). And so I felt vulnerable, because what then do you do?
It's a ministry of presence: touch the person, look at the eyes. When I looked at their eyes, there was sadness -- deep sadness, not a passing sadness, a very deep sadness. And besides the sadness, it was uncertainty, the fear of horrible news -- that feeling in-between, knowing that your (missing) daughter, or your friend was (out) there, but not knowing the next piece of information. It was a very crucial moment, very difficult.
Even if that person at this point has feelings against the Lord -- God can handle everything and anything. For us, we need to accompany them in that moment, not fix it.
OSV News: We tend to want to fix things and also forget them.
Archbishop García-Siller: That's right, and that's why we should not forget this history. Remember this, (even though) it's very hard. This is part of your life -- a loved one survived, or died. Sometimes we want to have some kind of answer to resolve (the uncertainty), because we cannot handle it. Be humble, and suffer with the other person.
OSV News: That is literally the meaning of the word "compassion," which was Pope Leo XIV's prayer intention for the month of June.
Archbishop García-Siller: Yes. Of course, first of all, prayer (is essential). In that prayer, (we ask), "How can I be compassionate with the people around me right now? How can I increase compassion and be patient with the people that I am now (with)?"
It will be a long way. I walked with the people in Uvalde (the Texas town which in May 2022 experienced a mass school shooting that killed 19 children and two adults). After three years, and though some good things have been happening, it's still a ways to go. So this (flooding) situation will take a long, long time (to heal). People don't recover from this quickly.
We all need to do something. Wherever we are at in the world, humanity will be better, will be lifted up, (if we pray and exercise compassion), and it will be easier to see the signs of the Resurrection.
— Gina Christian, OSV News
San Antonio archdiocese calls for prayers after following severe flooding
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San Antonio archdiocese calls for prayers after following severe flooding
KERR COUNTY, Texas — The Archdiocese of San Antonio is calling for prayers for all affected by the historic flooding wreaking havoc in parts of the archdiocese, it said in a July 4 statement.
"We pray especially for those who have died as well as those who are still missing," the statement said. "As the archdiocese mourns together, many are coming forward, including archdiocesan entities and organizations, to assist in relief efforts, as well as the first responders who continue to help the numerous victims of this horrific event."
Following the catastrophic flooding, at least 20 girls are unaccounted for from Camp Mystic, a Christian, girls-only sleep away camp in Hunt, Texas. The camp along the Guadalupe River was evacuated overnight as the area received at least 10 inches of rain. The rain on Friday morning caused the river to rise nearly 30 feet in 45 minutes.
As of Friday night, at least 24 people are confirmed dead due to the flooding in Kerr County, Sheriff Larry L. Leitha told reporters, saying more fatalities are expected. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also said Friday night that he has issued a disaster declaration for several counties, so they "have access to every tool, strategy, personnel that the state of Texas can provide to them, which will be limitless," he said.
"At this time it is unknown how many have been affected by rising water levels along rivers and creeks," the archdiocese said in its statement. "It is our prayer that those impacted by the floods will find the strength to rebuild. We pledge to be with the people in these challenging circumstances. Let us answer Christ's call to love one another."
The archdiocese announced Friday night that there will be a "special Mass to pray for those who have lost their lives and persons that are missing -- and for the comfort of their grieving families and Hill Country communities" on Sunday, July 6, at 11 a.m., at Notre Dame Church in Kerrville, with Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller. Earlier that morning, Archbishop Garcia-Siller will preside at the 8 a.m. Sunday televised Mass at San Fernando Cathedral for the same intention, according to the archdiocese.
"Prayers will also be offered for the emergency responders and those who have begun the work of providing for the needs of the impacted in these communities in their recovery efforts; that they may be kept from harm as they seek to bring relief, comfort, and healing," the archdiocese said.
The Diocese of Beaumont, Texas called for prayers for those affected by the flooding and announced a Mass at 10 a.m., Saturday, July 5, at St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica "for all those affected by the Hill Country flooding, especially those who are from here -- Aiden Heartfield, Ella Cahill, Joyce Badon, their friend Reese Manchaca, and Mary Grace Baker and their families."
The Diocese of Austin, Texas asked the Diocese of Austin family to "join in prayer with our brothers and sisters in the Archdiocese of San Antonio as they support those affected by the devastating flooding, particularly in Kerr County. May the lives lost today rest in peace, through the mercy of God, and may their families know God's presence during this time of sorrow and uncertainty."
"We also pray for the first responders bravely engaged in search and rescue for those still missing," wrote Father James A. Misko, diocesan administrator. "Invoking the watchful intercession the Blessed Virgin Mary, under her title of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, patroness of people seeking protection during natural disasters and strong storms, that God will bring to a calm the rushing rivers, keep safe those who are missing and protect those working to rescue the lost."
In a press conference Friday afternoon, Texas Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick promised anxious parents that "we will do everything humanly possible to find your daughter."
He said that "20-some" girls attending the camp remained unaccounted for, later putting the figure at "about 23." He added that the missing girls "could be in a tree, they could be out of communication. We're praying for all those missing to be found alive."
Camp Mystic welcomes girls aged 7-17, and its website says the camp, established in 1926, is "nestled among cypress, live oak, and pecan trees in the hill country of west-central Texas on the banks of the beautiful Guadalupe River."
"The staff at Mystic strives to provide young girls with a wholesome Christian atmosphere in which they can develop outstanding personal qualities and self-esteem," the website says.
The Christian camp told parents, "If your daughter is not accounted for, you have been notified. If you have not been personally contacted, then your daughter is accounted for."
Patrick said rescue efforts included 14 choppers, 12 drones, nine rescue teams as well as swimmers in the water -- a total of 400 to 500 people on the ground.
The archdiocese said that San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller and Auxiliary Bishop Michael Boulette currently are in Kerrville, and that Notre Dame Church in Kerrville "has opened its gym ... to any evacuees seeking shelter from the flooding."
"In addition, the Catholic Charities Mobile Relief Unit and CEO J. Antonio Fernandez have arrived at Notre Dame to provide food, clothing, hygiene products and water to those in need," the statement said.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, asked for prayers on X, writing "Please pray right now for everyone in the Hill Country, especially Camp Mystic. Today, I've spoken with Gov Abbott, Lt. Gov Patrick, the head of TDEM & President Trump. Multiple helicopters are performing search & rescue. President Trump committed ANYTHING Texas needs."
— Lauretta Brown, OSV News
Days after July 4 flash floods ravaged Texas’ Hill Country, OSV News spoke with Father Joshua Whitfield, pastoral administrator of St. Rita Catholic Community in Dallas.
TEXAS — Deadly July 4 flash floods in western Texas have so far claimed at least 107 lives, including those of 27 children at a Christian summer camp.