May 2013 Angelus.pdf - Flocknote

The Angelus MAY 2013 Page 11
Bp. Vasquez thanks West
Texans for support after
blast in Austin diocese
(Editor’s Note: Catholics in the Diocese of
San Angelo have raised and forwarded
more than $24,000 in financial assistance
for the people of West)
Dear Bishop Mike:
Thank you very much for your note in which
you expressed your concern and prayers for
the many people who have suffered great losses
in the recent explosion at the fertilizer plant
in West. Fourteen people died and many more
have lost their homes and all their possessions
and now must begin the process of rebuilding
their lives.
In the last few days I have been able to
spend time with members of the community
and yesterday I celebrated Mass with the
parishioners of St. Mary’s Church of the
Assumption, the only Catholic Church in the
small community. While devastated by this
tragedy, I found the people to be filled with
great hope and faith. The promise of prayers
and support from you and so many others is
warmly received and, as shepherd of this diocese,
I am personally grateful.
Please continue to pray for the people of
West asking the intercession of Our Lady Of
Guadalupe.
Fraternally in Christ
Most. Rev. Joe Vasquez
Bishop of Austin
By Joan Kurkowski-Gillen
Catholic News Service
WEST, TEXAS EXPLOSION
Catholic communities band together after tragedy
WEST —Father Ed Karasek was driving home from a meeting
in Austin when reports of a massive explosion at a fertilizer
plant in West came across the radio.
The tragedy's human toll hit home quickly for the pastor of
the Church of the Assumption in West. One of the first responders
killed in the magnitude 2.1 blast was the son of parish secretary
Carolyn Pustejovsky. Joey Pustejovsky was a volunteer
firefighter and city secretary for the predominantly Czech-
Catholic community located 20 miles north of Waco off
Interstate 35.
West is in the Diocese of Austin, but borders the Diocese of
Fort Worth.
About 200 others were injured in the industrial explosion the
night of April 17 that followed a fire at the plant where volatile
ammonium nitrate was used to manufacture fertilizer.
Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Sgt. Jason
Reyes said April 19 that 12 bodies had been recovered from
debris and that 25 buildings remained to be cleared. He did not
say whether that was likely to be the final death toll.
“This is just devastating," said Father Karasek, who spent
much of April 18 comforting grieving families. "We've lost
parishioners and a lot of people lost homes. People are in
shock."
The explosion cut a six-block swath of destruction across the
laid-back town of 2,800 known for its Czech bakeries, kolaches
and annual Westfest Czech and Polka Festival each Labor
Day weekend. Stained-glass windows inside Assumption
Church, located about a mile from the site of the
explosion, were broken but there was no other damage to the
sanctuary or parish property.
Town residents bow their heads in prayer, at left, during an
April 21 prayer service four days after a deadly fertilizer plant
explosion in the town of West, near Waco. At least 14 people
have died in the massive explosion the evening of April 17;
about 200 others were injured ... A Dallas Fire Department
fire truck carrying the casket of fallen firefighter Capt.
Kenneth "Luckey" Harris, Jr. leads the procession of vehicles
following his funeral Mass at the Church of the
Assumption in West, below. ... Bishop Joe Vasquez of
Austin, above, blesses Louis Mynarcik, 87, at Providence
Hospital in Waco, April 19. Mynarcik was a resident of the
nursing home that crumbled from the April 17 explosion at a
nearby fertilizer plant in West.
Other churches in the northern part of the town were heavily
damaged by the blast heard 50 miles away. Two public
schools, a nursing home, and 50-unit apartment complex were
among the buildings that were reduced to rubble.
During a Mass celebrated the morning after the explosion,
Father Karasek tried to encourage devastated parishioners.
"The Lord will see us through this," said the pastor in his
homily. "We're all grieving, but we can support each other."
The parish was to host an interdenominational prayer service
for the community April 19. Prayers and calls of concern continued
to pour into the church office.
"We've gotten calls from Vatican Radio and Sky News," said
(Please See WEST/20)