Catholic leaders, government officials offer condolences and support to Texas flood victims
San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller speaks to the press after the memorial Mass for the Guadalupe River flood victims on July 6, 2025. / Credit: Sophie Abuzeid
Houston, Texas, Jul 7, 2025 / 17:17 pm (CNA).
Catholic leaders and government officials on Monday continued to issue statements of solidarity and support to victims of the catastrophic flash flooding in the Texas Hill Country over the weekend.
The death toll rose to 94 Monday afternoon, according to county officials, with Camp Mystic, the girls’ Christian camp devastated on July 4, confirming that 27 girls have perished, while 10 girls and a counselor from the camp are still unaccounted for.
Notre Dame Catholic Church in Kerrville held a memorial Mass for the flood victims on Sunday. Afterward, San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller told CNA the Church is “listening to the cry of all those who suffer, and their cry is not falling on deaf ears.”
Worshippers pray at the Texas Hill Country flood victims' memorial Mass in Notre Dame Catholic Church in Kerrville, Texas, on July 6, 2025. Credit: Sophie Abuzeid
He said that “pain and sorrow and death do not have the last word”; rather, “goodness, truth, love, and care [do], and hope never dies.”
The Mass had already been scheduled as the installation Mass for the parish’s new pastor, Father Scott Janysek.
In his first homily as pastor at Notre Dame, Janysek said in a time of crisis, “there is only one community. Whether we’re Catholic or Protestant … at this time, boundaries do not exist. We are one community, and we are all hurting.”
“We are one Church,” Janysek continued. He asked the congregation: “What does Catholic mean?”
“Universal!” they responded eagerly.
People pray during the memorial Mass for victims of catastrophic flooding in Texas at Notre Dame Catholic Church in Kerrville, Texas, on July 6, 2025. Credit: Sophie Abuzeid
“Yes, it means universal. It’s a description of what we are. We are the universal Church. We are one community.”
Janysek spoke of the two young girls who attended St. Rita Catholic School in Dallas who drowned and were found with their hands clasped together 15 miles from where they had been staying, saying: “We are connected to the Church in Dallas… We are connected to all the churches across our state. We hurt with them.”
Archbishop Joe S. Vasquez of Galveston-Houston released a statement on July 5 saying the archdiocese joined the Archdiocese of San Antonio in “praying for those affected by the recent severe flooding” and asking for God’s protection over and comfort for the victims, their families, and first responders.
He continued: “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.”
St. Peter Catholic Church in Boerne, Texas, a parish near Kerrville that is organizing aid for the flood victims. Credit: Amira Abuzeid/CNA
Father Norm Ermis, pastor at St. Peter Catholic Church in Boerne, a town about 40 miles from Kerrville, said at the Mass on Sunday that the parish would be informed of how it could help flood victims in the coming week.
Ermis said he spends a lot of time on the Guadalupe River and was grieving with all who had lost loved ones.
San Antonio resident Bridie Chaudoir told CNA that she had almost sent her daughter to Camp Mystic in July, but she decided in the end to send her in August. Had she attended in July, she would have been in the Bubbles Inn cabin, which was washed away by the swiftly moving floodwaters and whose occupants are all believed to have perished.
Chaudoir’s sons and nephews were rescued from Camp La Junta, also located in Hunt. Her son, Henry, 12, told CNA he prayed a decade of the rosary, the guardian angel prayer, and the St. Michael prayer the night before the flood.
She told CNA the Camp Mystic community’s response to its grieving members has been “overwhelmingly beautiful.”
Gov. Greg Abbott declared Sunday, July 6, as a day of prayer for the victims. President Donald Trump declared Kerr County a federal disaster area on July 6, and the White House Faith Office issued a statement that evening, saying on social media: “May God wrap his loving arms around all of those in Texas. Psalm 34:18: ‘The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.’”