Here’s an eyewitness report from the Seminary in Macúl, posted in Spanish on the CM Chile Facebook Page. “On the morning of Saturday, February 27, we were violently awakened by the strong earthquake (8.8 on the Richter scale) suffered by south-central Chile and Santiago, for more than two minutes. It had been quite a while since nature showed such strong energy. After getting up to see if things were falling in my office, just like in my room, I went down the corridor to the theology side, trying to see the situation of theology students here: Arnold, John David and Mauritius, answered my call, making me a little relieved to see that they were okay; then on the second floor of the confreres, Brother Hipólito and Gabriel responded. By that time the earthquake was over, leaving us in the dark. I dressed quickly, and we went to see the young guys in philosophy, all of whom were in the courtyard of the seminary. Noting that all were alive and unharmed, we began to try to get information by transistor radios, hearing that the epicenter was in the region of Bio Bio. We wondered about the intensity at that location, since they announced that Santiago was 8 on the Richter scale. The first phone calls came flooding in, the first from Fr. Misael at about 4 AM, then Fr. Carlos, Visitor of the province, a half hour later. All of them were showing signs of being well, and of being relieved to know that we were, too. There were difficulties with cell phones because the lines were jammed, but eventually all of us were receiving calls from our families, without casualties.

At about 4:30 in the morning, we left with brother Gabriel to see our neighbors the Daughters of Charity. In Hogar Regazo, we found the sisters and the girls together — they were all well — demonstrating great fortitude and calm in front of the girls. Sister Salle, the “dean” of the Province of the Daughters of Charity we found sleeping, unaffected. Going over to the Sunset Nursing Home, we were confronted with some parents of children who had arrived quickly to find their children, but were not authorized to see them. Upon arrival at the Nursing Home, we saw the sisters behind gates, because without electricity they could not open the doors. Sister Oriana told us that both the sisters and the older folks there were well.

Returning to the seminary, we spent the rest of the night in vigil. There was water and gas, needed to grab a cup of coffee, and we talked of what we’d lived through, listened to radio reports and tried to imagine what we would see in the morning, come the light of day.

One concern I had was the state of P. John Rens who has been at Catholic University Clinical Hospital since Thursday, the 25th of February. So at about 7 am, I washed up and at about 8 am was ready to go, but the gate is electric and we could not open it. While looking for the manual system, the electricity came back on. During the trip to the hospital, we saw, in disbelief, that many of the houses and buildings had survived without problems. Up at the National Stadium, we saw a water-line break that had flooded much of Avenida Grecia. Despite this problem, we arrived at the hospital; it was 8:30. As Father John would be located at the center of critically ill patients, on the fourth floor, I would stay just 10 minutes. Upon entering, Father John’s eyes filled with tears and he was glad to see me, and immediately asked about everyone in the house and if the seminary was still standing, I told him about the status of people and the house, and he shared with me his experience of that morning. As he is without strength because of his deteriorated heart, he surrendered to the Lord, but I told him it was not his time yet. After leaving, I asked the nurse about the health of Father John and she told me he was fine, they would do an electrocardiogram because of pain that manifested after the earthquake.

Seeing Father John’s safe situation, we left the hospital and headed for the Province House, from where we’d had no news — despite constant calls by confreres we’d had no answer. We arrived safely at the house and found Señora Magdalena, the house’s cook, who’d just arrived. We asked about the confreres and she had no info. Not seeing the car we were given to suppose that they were attending to their work. We climbed to the second floor and no one answered. Except for some fallen statues, the house looked okay. Along with Magdalena went to see the condition of the church and saw large cracks that revealed the presence of some old windows that didn’t show until now. In the corridor leading to the Alameda pieces of the wall were on the floor. I think the Church has some major problems.

Upon returning to the seminary, we tried to eat something and began briefly inspecting the state of the house. Despite some broken images, memories of our beloved saints, the house had withstood it very well. Some of the inside moldings and plaster on the side of the Library had fallen. A small crack appeared in an inside wall in the philosophy section. There was a lot of dust, and we were motivated to start cleaning and sorting, all the while trying to keep ourselves informed of the confreres and their families. At eight o’clock we had Mass in the parish headquarters at San Sebastian chapel. We didn’t find structural problems in the two buildings, except some fallen images. Almost unable to sleep during that Saturday night, this night arrived a little more tranquilly, and we tried to sleep.

On Sunday the 28th, after morning prayer we went out for Sunday Masses. A lot of people took part and offered intentions for the victims of this great earthquake. Theology student Arthur Mamani is in Collipulli, where he found all is well, and he will return ground transportation becomes available.

These are the stories of what we lived through, without adornment, the largest natural catastrophe we’ve ever seen. United in Christ and St. Vincent de Paul, your brother, Fr. Neftali George Shaw Sandoval, C.M.”


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