Spanish bishop encourages prayer in face of drought

Cordoba, Spain, Sep 2, 2022 / 12:48 pm

Bishop Demetrio Fernández González of Córdoba is encouraging the faithful to "lift up prayers to God asking for rain" in the face of Spain’s drought, because while “meteorologists know how to explain and predict,” they cannot produce rain.

Spain is in the midst of its worst drought on record.

In his weekly letter, Bishop Fernández said, “We need water and it is a tradition of believers for centuries and centuries that when this drought reaches its extremes, we turn to God with community prayers to ask him for the gift of rain.”

“Jesus in the prayer of Our Father taught us to ask for daily bread among other petitions. That is, to ask for the food we need to survive. Well, right now we need the water from the clouds to fertilize the fields.”

The prelate is asking people to pray for rain throughout the month of September: “We are going to ask for the necessary rain to be able to survive," he said.

Bishop Fernández underscored that "it’s not enough for it to rain a little, it is necessary for it to rain a lot and for the water reserves to be replenished, without this causing floods and other catastrophes."

The volume of reservoir water in Spain is at 35% capacity, about 20 points below the average of the last 10 years at this time.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.