Extraordinary fundraising for the people affected by the earthquake
After the magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck western Colombia on 10 August 2026, the Minister General, Br Massimo Fusarelli, OFM, made an emergency appeal to the whole Franciscan Family on 11 August, the feast of Saint Clare of Assisi: “Br Richard Paúl Cortés López, Minister Provincial of the Province of Saint Paul the Apostle, sent me a photograph of an elderly woman sitting on a piece of cardboard, on the plank floor of her house left without a roof, with a bottle of water next to her. That woman is, today, for us, the face of Colombia asking for help.”
The Minister General has asked every fraternity of the Order, the monasteries of the Poor Clare Sisters and the entire Franciscan Family to remember in the Eucharist and in the Liturgy of the Hours the deceased, the injured and the displaced people of Colombia, and the brothers and sisters who serve them.
Br Massimo has also commissioned the Fondazione OFM Fraternitas ETS, a body of the General Curia, to open an extraordinary fundraising campaign, “Colombia Emergency 2026”. Every donation will be allocated entirely to water, food and safe accommodation for the Poor Clares and the postulants of Montenegro, to humanitarian aid for the families of the parish of Buenaventura, to the safety works on unsafe buildings and to the restoration of the damaged churches, convents and colleges of the Provinces of Saint Paul the Apostle and of Holy Faith – Santa Fe.
It is possible to donate by credit card through the link: https://ofmfraternitas.org/en/2026/08/12/earthquake-emergency-in-colombia/
It is also possible to contribute by bank transfer to:
Fondazione OFM Fraternitas ETS – Bank Intesa Sanpaolo
IBAN EUR €: IT15 T030 6909 6061 0000 0168 958
IBAN USD $: IT22 V030 6909 6061 6100 9304 690
BIC/SWIFT: BCITITMM
Reason: “Colombia Emergency 2026”
“God always provides, and very often provides through our hands. Let us not let the trust of the poor fall on deaf ears.”
With these words the Minister General concludes his letter, making his own the appeal of the two Colombian Provinces and inviting the whole Franciscan Family to pray and to donate.
The full text of the appeal is available here in PDF
