On Thursday, June 7, 2018, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon and members of the Chancery staff gathered in Saint Sergius of Radonezh Chapel where they celebrated a Service of Intercession for those suffering as a result of Guatemala’s Volcán de Fuego and ongoing activity surrounding Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano.
As widely reported, the Hawaiian eruptions continue to displace many local residents while impacting the state’s vital tourism industry. The Fuego eruption on Sunday, June 3, 2018 has seen rising death tolls and widespread destruction with almost 100 dead and countless persons missing. Many remote villages have been completely destroyed.
Metropolitan Tikhon called upon those gathered for the service—as well as all Orthodox Christian faithful—to pray for the departed, as well as those whose lives have forever changed as a result of these natural disasters.
In related news, it has been reported that the sisterhood and children at Guatemala’s Holy Trinity Orthodox Monastery in Amatitlan and the Hogar Rafael Ayau Orphanage in Guatemala City are safe and not in immediate danger, as the volcano is located some 25 miles away. The nuns are actively assisting in relief efforts.
Photo Credit: Subdeacon Roman Ostash
