A Surfside, Fla., Priest Waits And Prays For News Of Missing Parishioners

https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-miami-area-condo-collapse/2021/06/25/ [login to see] /a-surfside-fla-priest-waits-and-prays-for-news-of-missing-parishioners
Standing on the steps of St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in Surfside, Fla., you can smell the massive rubble pile, steaming and smoking two blocks away.

Inside the rectory, the Rev. Juan Sosa has been working the phones, reaching out to families trying to grasp the impact on his parish.

"The magnitude has surfaced with the identification of people," said the priest. "The impact is growing in me. I do believe in hope. I pray and hope that some of the missing will be found."

No additional survivors were found as of sundown Friday. Authorities say four people are known to have died and more than 150 people remain unaccounted for, many believed to be under the ruins of the building.

According to Father Sosa, parish records indicate at least twelve families from the congregation had loved ones living in the collapsed condominium. He said at least ten of those individuals appear to be among the missing.

"I know several of them personally. I used to have dinner with them there," he said.