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ATLANTANS RECALL EARTHQUAKE TERROR
PAGE 3 — January 11,1973
“Thank God He Got Us
Out of There Alive...”
BY MARIE MULVENNA
(This first-hand account of the
Managua earthquake is reprinted from
the GEORGIA BULLETIN.)
“We thank God that He got us out
alive . .
Frank Sullivan says those words as a
man who has just looked death in the
eye and lived to tell about it. He, his
wife Mercedes and their three children
miraculously survived the disastrous
earthquake that devastated Managua,
Nicaragua on December 23. They are
now safely home in Atlanta after a
terrifying experience that sounds like
fiction but was tragically real.
The Sullivans are members of St.
Jude’s Parish. They had flown to
Managua on December 17, the first trip
home for Christmas in 14 years for
Mercedes Sullivan and one the family
had saved for and looked forward to for
many, many months. Mercedes is a
native of Nicaragua and their last visit to
her country had been some five years
ago during summer months. This trip
was something very special -- and it
almost cost them their lives.
Frank described their brush with
death: “We were guests at a party given
by Mercedes’ sister at her home about
eight kilometers outside of Managua. It
was December 23. The first tremor
came about 10:30 p.m. and I didn’t
even notice it but the others did. It was
mild so nobody seemed concerned. All
of us were sitting outside on the patio
around midnight when the big tremor
hit. The quake knocked us all to the
ground and everything was complete
schock and devastation. My wife
screamed for our som, who is nine, and
had come with us to the party. Our two
girls, ages eight and three, were with
their grandparents in Managua. The boy
was in one of the bedrooms in my
sister-in-law’s home. I somehow crawled
into the house which was pretty badly
hit. All the electricity had gone but the
boy had made his way out of the
bedroom into the hallway and waas
hanging onto the top of a door. I
KAMPALA, Uganda (NC) - Uganda’s
President Idi Amin told a special
diplomatic delegation sent by Pope Paul
VI that religious freedom is guaranteed
in this country and that he is not against
Catholics as such.
The papal delegation, headed by
African-born Archbishop Bernardin
Gantin, associate secretary of the
Congregation for the Evangelization of
Peoples, was sent to Uganda after Amin
had expelled dozens of European
Christian missionaries on grounds that
their papers were not in order and that
some of them had undergone military
training and therefore were not to be
trusted.
Amin told the papel envoys Dec. 19
that his policy “is not to allow anybody
in Uganda to bring confusion.”
Earlier he had accused Archbishop
Emmanuel Nsbuga of Kampala of being
implicated in Israeli and South African
plots against his government. He had
also stressed that he wants to see all
religions in his country fully
Ugandanized to remove “the danger of
foreigners trying to sow the seeds of
dissension and destruction in the
country.”
Amin told the papal delegation that
his government is not against anyone.
Any assistance from any religious
organization in the world is welcome, he
said.
PUBLIC-NONPUBLIC
WASHINGTON, D.C. (NC) -
Nonpublic school superintendents will
join public school officials in a second
national conference here sponsored by
the Office of Education of the U.S.
Dept, of Health, Education and Welfare
Jan. 10-12.
The first conference held last year in
Warrenton, Va., involved school officials
from cities of more than 300,000
population. This year invitations have
been extended to superintendents from
cities with more than 200,000
population and where more than five
percent of the children are enrolled ir
nonpublic schools.
grabbed him and got him outside.
“We ran for our car, which was OK,
and began the trip into Managua, to find
our daughters and their grandparents.
We went up and down streets filled with
rubble and debris. Many of them were
blocked with fallen walls and parts of
houses. Some areas of the city were
completely inaccessible. We were really
frantic and then I noticed a familiar
sign. I jumped out of the car and ran
down a nearby street to find my wife’s
parents standing bewildered in the
streets in their nightclothes. Their home
was nothing but a shell. They told us
Mercedes’ brother, who had an
adjoining house, had taken the chilren
to another sister’s house nearby.
Buildings were collapsing all around. A
few other men and I tried to help
several women trapped in a badly hit
building. Another tremor hit and the
building collapsed completely. We all
ran toward the car when another tremor
came and knocked us all to the ground.
The side of the car was smashed in with
huge rocks. Somehow we managed to
dig the car out, pry off the rocks and
debris and thank heavens the motor
started.
“We did get to Mercedes’ sister’s
home and found our two daughters alive
and well. The house had been severely
hit and parts had already caved in. They
had one of those huge retaining walls
that just folded in during the quake.
The street had huge caverns in it and the
walls were falling all around us.
“Mercedes’ brother’s wife was in the
hospital with their 40-hour-old infant
when the quake hit. Somehow
Mercedes’ brother got to the hospital,
crawled in and got them both out
before the hospital itself collapsed. All
of us spent the night in the street at her
sister’s house, afraid to sleep but happy
we were all alive and togehter. The
tremors continued all through the night.
“The next morning Mercedes’ brother
and I went back into Managua to their
parents’ home. It was daylight and I
He said that missionaries are welcome
to stay and work in Uganda provided
that they have documents enabling
them to do so. He said that the majority
of the members of the Defense Council
are Catholics and that there are also
Catholics in the cabinet and in other
key positions in the armed forces and in
the governments.
He added that many members of his
family are Catholics and that his own
father was a Roman Catholic before he
was converted to Islam.
It has been reported that some
Catholics, especially in the armed
forces, have become Moslems in order
to remain in favor with Amin, who is a
Moslem.
After talking with the papal envoys
Amin told a group of army chaplains on
Dec. 28 that European clergy and
missionaries should go home and let
Ugandans control their own churches.
European clergy who remain in
Uganda, he said, should be at religious
training centers.
There are about 1,400 European
missionaries in the country, most of
them Catholic.
Amin said that clergy attached to the
armed forces should inform the leaders
of their respective religions of the
Ugandanization of churches. “I am
putting it in your hands,” he told the
chaplains. “Your duty is to see that in
every province Ugandans are in
positions of responsibility.”
The planning committee includes
Msgr. James Habiger, president, Chief
Catholic Administrators, Winona, Minn.;
Msgr. Francis Schulte, archdiocese of
Philadelphia superintendent of schools;
Father John Meyers, National Catholic
Educational Association; Richard
Thompson, executive secretary of the
Council for American Private
Education; Dr. E.L. Whigham, Dade
County, Fla., public school
superintendent, committee chairman;
Dr. Louis Kishkunas, Pittsburgh
superintendent; Dr. James Redmond,
Chicago superintendent and Dr. Gene
Geisert, New Orleans superintendent.
crawled over some fallen walls and piles
of rubble and managed to get a few
personal belongings of ours and theirs
out of the house. We loaded them into
the car and all of us headed for Masaya
which is about 20 kilometers outside of
Managua. We then spent two nights at
the home of Mercedes’ aunt. Their place
was badly damaged and we all spent the
nights on the floor, existing on any food
at all we could find around.
“Our next decision was whether we
should attempt to try to get to Costa
Rica to the U.S. Embassy -- the embassy
in Nicaragua had been totally
annihilated -- or to go to the Managua
airport. I kind of leaned toward trying
to reach Costa Rica but my
brother-in-law felt we should try for the
airport. We had to use back roads and
seldom travelled routes because we had
to avoid the flaming destruction of the
center of Managua. You couldn’t go
near it. Everything was burning. We saw
churches burning like torches;
everything was complete devastation on
the way to the airport. We saw some
poor sisters in white habits walking the
roads with other people, seeking shelter
and some sort of accommodations at
small farms along the way. It was
unbelievable.
“Mercedes’ parents did not return
with us. They are relatively safe in
Masaya which has become sort of a
refugee haven. They have a sister and
other relatives there. They are OK
although Mr. Carrion, Mercedes’ Father,
was pretty badly bruised in the quake.
I’m going to try to get them out of
there and up here with us soon as I can.
“When we finally arrived at the
Managua airport, it was real confusion.
We put our names on an Air Force
manifest list. The U.S. had large cargo
planes coming in and said they would
try to fly out as many people as they
could. We were really lucky - we got on
a Florida-bound flight that we thought
would stop in Tampa. However, hey
said they’d make one stop first at
Homestead Air Force Base which is
about 20 miles from Miami. When we
arrived at Homestead the Red Cross met
us, gave us some food and got us
through customs. They then bussed us
to Miami where I called a friend to bring
us our car which I had left near there
before we flew down to Managua on the
17th. From there, it was home to
Atlanta.”
Frank Sullivan is 36, a native of
Atlanta and was brought up in Christ
the King Parish. He is still in a state of
shock but related some additional
thoughts on their recent terrifying
experience.
What does the quake feel like? Frank
says it is somewhat like a tremble felt in
an office when a large cart is rolled
across the floor or a nearby train
rumbles past. “Magnify that many times
over and it’s a rough idea of what it
feels like. You lose your equilibrium
completely -- not so much the noise
itself that scares you but the horrible
feeling of being knocked off your feet
and everything flying all around you.
Buildings collapse just like sand castles.
The ground just opens - completely
separates in spots, some higher than
others. The vibrations are so strong they
just shatter buildings. I saw one
concrete building, reinforced with steel
that just crumbled -- the whole thing.
One hotel, the one where Howard
Hughes is supposed to stay, had the top
two floors just fall off. The rest of the
building was still standing at that point.
“The entire city of Managua was in
flames. I don’t really know what causes
the fires - perhaps falling electrical
wires. Or maybe just because most of
the people have gas stoves and they
overturn when the tremors hit starting
fires. The whole city was filled with
smoke.”
The normal question now is “What
can we do to help?” Frank pauses for a
moment and replies quietly, “Keep
sending help to the various relief groups.
I was so very proud of the way our
country helped and how quickly they
came in with supplies and assistance.
Standing at that airport in Managua, I
watched plane after plane come in with
disaster aid. The biggest problem is the
confusion of getting the aid distributed.
I guess the government must have been
shattered and the channels for reaching
the people who need help are not
clearly set up. It’s awfully chaotic and
relief efforts are somewhat
uncoordinated.”
Since their return to Atlanta, the
Sullivans have heard that some other
relatives are safe and in refugee camps.
The news was relayed to them by a ham
radio operator in Philadelphia. Frank
says the three children were not injured
at all, but are terribly upset by their
experience. He said they cannot yet
sleep and when they do fall asleep they
wake up screaming in fear.
“All I can say is, thank God all of us
are alive and well. Thank God.”
Uganda President Says
Freedom Is Guaranteed
Government Sponsors
Meeting of Educators
Pieta Restoration Is Completed;
Soon to Be Seen by the Public
VATICAN CITY (NC) - Restoration
work on Michelangelo’s masterpeice, the
Pieta, soon to be seen again by the
public, leaves the damage done to it
almost imperceptible.
Newsmen had a chance to view the
gleaming white marble statue of the
Madonna and the dead Christ (Jan. 4).
They got a close up look of the
restoration work which has been carried
out after it was smashed by 15 hammer
blows last May 21.
The restoration work is all but
unnoticable. At a distance of six inches,
the delicate nose of the madonna, which
had been smashed brutally by
Hungarian-born Laszlo Toth, seems
almost unflawed. Only a faint,
pencil-thin line hints at the rejoining of
the broken tip and the rest of the face.
The left eye and eye-lid have been
restored with unbelievable skill. Only
the slightest variation in the tone of the
white marble suggests that some damage
had been done.
For the untold millions who will view
the statue in coming years none of these
minute imperfections will be noticeable
at all. The statue will be on view in St.
Peter’s Basilica by the public sometime
toward the end of February.
But between the public and the great
Renaissance masterpiece will be a
distance of more than 30 feet with a
three-panel plexiglass screen in between.
Francesco Vacchini, chief engineer of
St. Peter’s Basilica, said the special
panelling will not only be unbreakable
by hand but will be able to withstand
gun shots, rocks or other missiles.
Admitting that it might not withstand
something of greater power, the Vatican
engineer said, “but you have to admit it
would be pretty hard to get a bazooka
into the Basilica.”
OUR LADY (IN SIGHT) OF THE HIGHWAYS ~
Priests, novices and Brother candidates from the
Novitiate of the Oblate Fathers of St. Francis de Sales
pray at the new shrine to Our Lady of the Highways
at Childs, Md. The John F. Kennedy Highway
(Interstate 95) is in the background. The road is a
major route along the Washington-New York corridor
and the Oblate Fathers hope that the statue will
inspire the many motorists who see it to drive safely.
(NC Photo)
MANAGUA CATHEDRAL -- The Managua Cathedral
(background) was reported to have been badly
damaged in the earthquake which struck the
Nicaraguan capital Dec. 23, although the exterior
looked unaffected in this photo, taken the next day.
(NC Photo)