Catholic News Agency (January 6, 2026) reports on Venezuelan civilians surviving a U.S. military strike in Caracas, attributing their preservation to religious objects. The article centers on Elena Berti, whose home suffered catastrophic damage while she remained unharmed near the explosion’s epicenter, with her daughter declaring: “A miracle definitely occurred.” Neighbor Gracia Mónaco similarly claims divine protection evidenced by an undisturbed Virgin Mary statue. The narrative emphasizes physical survival through devotional items while soliciting reconstruction funds.
Sacramental Superstition Replacing True Piety
The article propagates a mechanistic view of grace antithetical to Catholic teaching. When Salazar describes her mother’s survival being linked to “a rosary behind her pillow” and statues, this reduces sacramentals to talismanic objects – a distortion condemned by Pope Benedict XIV in De Servorum Dei Beatificatione (III.37.5): “Superstition enters when means are employed which have no intrinsic connection with the effect expected.” The Council of Trent (Session 25) explicitly warns against treating holy objects as automatic protections, emphasizing that efficacy flows from ex opere operantis (the disposition of the user), not ex opere operato.
Omission of Divine Justice Amid Human Conflict
Nowhere does the article acknowledge God’s righteous judgment upon nations rejecting Christ’s social reign. Pius XI’s encyclical Quas Primas (1925) declares: “When once men recognize…that Christ has been given all power in heaven and on earth…then at last will many ills be cured.” The U.S. military’s destruction of a sovereign nation directly violates the Church’s condemnation of aggressive warfare in Pius XII’s 1939 Christmas Address. Yet the report implicitly endorses this illegal action by framing survival as miraculous without denouncing the attackers’ moral bankruptcy.
Naturalization of the Supernatural
The testimony “If it had been six meters less…it would have been a disaster” reveals a naturalistic worldview measuring divine intervention through physical proximity to destruction. True Catholic miracles require three conditions per Benedict XIV’s De Canonizatione: 1) No natural explanation, 2) Occurrence through sanctified persons/objects, 3) Spiritual fruitfulness. The absence of investigators ruling out shockwave dynamics or structural anomalies makes the “miracle” claim scientifically and theologically untenable. This aligns with Modernist tendencies condemned in Pius X’s Lamentabili (Proposition 58): “Truth…develops with man, in him and through him.”
Sacramental Desolation in Crisis
Tellingly absent is any mention of priests administering Last Rites, Mass offerings for protection, or survivors seeking Confession after trauma. Instead, Mónaco’s daughter finds comfort not in sacraments but her mother’s assertion: “Don’t you believe in God, don’t you have faith?” This exemplifies the conciliar sect’s sacramental desertification. Contrast this with true Catholic resilience during the 1940 London Blitz, when priests like Fr. James Groppi offered continuous Masses and processions amidst bombings. The article’s reduction of faith to emotional endurance (“faith is with me all the time”) fulfills Pius IX’s warning in the Syllabus of Errors (1864) against those who “equate the Christian religion with other false religions” (Proposition 16).
Fundraising Over Spiritual Remedies
The concluding focus on “fundraising campaign…donate building materials” prioritizes earthly reconstruction over eternal realities. While charity remains essential, the article ignores the primary spiritual rebuilding needed in a nation where Caracas Archbishop José Lara Peña permitted Communion for adulterers in 2019. True Catholics would couple material aid with demands for the Tridentine Mass’s restoration and public consecration to Christ the King – the sole solution to Venezuela’s crises per Quas Primas: “When nations…permit themselves to be governed by Christ, then at last will many ills be cured.”
Source:
A bomb fell meters from their homes in Caracas, but they survived: ‘It’s a miracle’ (catholicnewsagency.com)
Date: 06.01.2026