Refugees “can’t obtain the Brazilian documents,” one local bishop said, “but they keep needing shelter, food and healthcare.”

A global hunger crisis, foretold in the beginning days of the Covid-19 crisis, is being realized.

Catholic Charities USA and the Felician Sisters of North America have each contributed $1 million to a new fund to benefit people “in extreme danger of losing their homes this month.”

Chuck Feeney donated the last of his fortune this year, writes Mary Beth Powers of the Catholic Medical Mission Board, and set an example for others to act now rather than later.

“The situation is just devastating, and the needs are immense.”

Guatemala’s vulnerability is natural disasters is compounded by climate change and historical inequities in land distribution—the poorest live in the most dangerous locations where many are threatened by mudslides.