Froom OSV News:
A massive landslide triggered by the collapse of part of the Birch Glacier buried nearly 90% of the Catholic village of Blatten in Switzerland’s Lötschental Valley on May 28.
All 300 residents were safely evacuated, but the historic village — once home to vibrant Corpus Christi processions and a 15th-century Virgin Mary statue — now lies under ice, mud and debris. “This region is used to risks that come simply from the fact that what surrounds those villages are really high mountains,” ranging from 10,000 to 13,000 feet high, said Polish Father Robert Biel, who serves in St. Maurice Parish in nearby Zermatt — one of Switzerland’s flagship mountain resorts.