Miracle!!! As Maui Catholic Church Survives Wildfire. The wildfires that have killed at least 99 people and destroyed approximately 2,170 acres of land in Maui County, Hawaii, did not touch Maria Lanakila Catholic Church in Lahaina while it ravaged thousands of structures surrounding it.
The church, built in 1846, remains standing tall has photographs and videos taken in recent days revealed the sanctuary was standing tall
Expressing his gratitude unto God, Reverend Terrence Watanabe said;“For us, it’s like a miracle. When we saw the news and saw the church steeple rise above the town, it was a great sight to see.” He said spiritually, people always try to look for the presence of God in the world, whether it be a rainbow or people’s love for one another, but this was a whole other level of God’s presence. Right behind the church once stood a convent, a preschool and two other classrooms that all burned down in the fire. But the church itself and the rectory right next door survived.
Reverend Kuriakose Nadooparambil, the pastor of Maria Lanakila, managed to escape the historic church before the wildfires posed a danger to the surrounding community but revealed that one of his church staffs waited until the last minute to evacuate:
“He didn’t leave until the palm trees outside were on fire, and there was fire on both sides of the road as he drove away.” The Pastor returned to the church two days after the blaze, and found that nothing was damaged. The last time something similar happened was right after the 9/11 attacks when the two World Trade Center towers collapsed, destroying everything around them, but the 17th century Saint Paul’s Chapel in New York city.