The Deacon's Bench
A diaconal bow to my brother Deacon Greg Hall, featured here:
Most of us probably recall the plight of the 33 Chilean miners who spent more than two months in 2010 trapped almost a half mile below the ground. But the story behind their rescue is not well known, especially that the man who spearheaded it, a Catholic deacon from Texas, says that the only explanation for the rescue was a miracle.
The word “miracle” is often bandied about in connection with rescues. But according to Greg Hall, the American who came up with the plan that rescued the 33 Chilean miners after many failed attempts, a miracle is the only explanation for this rescue. The 33 miners trapped more than 2,000 feet underground at a gold-copper mine in San Jose, Chile, were stuck below the earth for 69 days. The disaster was caused when a rock 550 feet tall and twice the weight of the Empire State Building shifted, causing a chain reaction that blocked all passages of escape.
In an interview with Aleteia, Deacon Hall explained that with current technology, it simply was not possible to use drilling maneuvers to get deep and wide enough to bring the miners out. And yet, that’s what happened.
“It was never done before — or since,” he said. “Since that job was done, I’ve been contacted four times to drill the same type of hole for profit, and it has failed every time. That hole cannot be drilled. It was a miracle.”
Hall is a Catholic deacon at Christ the Redeemer church in, Cypress, TX, outside of Houston. He and his wife Angelica own Drillers Supply International, a drilling manufacturing company with branches in Houston, Minnesota, and Chile. The Chilean branch had operated for almost two decades. The rescuers were clients of Hall’s company, so he became immediately involved as a consultant.
It’s also worth noting that Greg won a significant battle against the HHS mandate late last year. Read more about that here.
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