PETROPOLIS, Brazil (AP) — The death toll from devastating mudslides and floods that swept through a mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro state has reached 78, Gov. Claudio Castro said Wednesday afternoon.

The city of Petropolis was slammed by a deluge Tuesday, and Castro said almost 400 people were left homeless. Searchers picked through the wreckage throughout the day and 21 people were recovered alive.

Civilians joined official recovery efforts. Among them were Priscila Neves and her siblings, who looked through the mud for any sign of their disappeared parents, but found only clothing. Neves told The Associated Press she had given up hope of finding her parents alive.

And Rosilene Virgilio, 49, was in tears as she recalled the desperate pleas from someone she couldn’t save.

“There was a woman screaming, ‘Help! Get me out of here!’ But we couldn’t do anything; the water was gushing out, the mud was gushing out,” Virgilio told The Associated Press. “Our city unfortunately is finished.”

Petropolis is a German-influenced city named for a former Brazilian emperor. Nestled in the mountains above the coastal metropolis, for almost two centuries it has been a refuge for people escaping summer heat and tourists keen to explore the so-called “Imperial City.”

Petropolis was among the nation’s first planned cities and features stately homes along its waterways. But its population has grown haphazardly, climbing mountainsides now covered with small residences packed tightly together. Many are in areas unfit for structures and rendered more vulnerable by deforestation and inadequate drainage.

The stricken mountain region has seen similar catastrophes in recent decades, including one that caused more than 900 deaths. In the years since, Petropolis presented a plan to reduce risks of landslides, but works have been advancing only slowly.

The governor told reporters earlier that the situation “was almost like war” and that he was mustering all the state government’s heavy machinery to help dig out the buried area.

The state fire department said late Tuesday the area received 25.8 centimeters (just over 10 inches) of rain within three hours Tuesday — almost as much as during the previous 30 days combined. Petropolis’ civil defense authority said moderate rain was expected Wednesday afternoon and evening.

Video posted on social media Tuesday showed cars and houses being dragged away by landslides, and water swirling through Petropolis and neighboring districts. On Wednesday, houses were buried beneath mud while appliances and cars were piled on streets where they had been swept the night before. Some people had attempted to flee the perilous hillsides.

“The neighbors came down running and I gave them shelter,” bar owner Emerson Torre, 39, recalled.

But under torrents of water, his roof collapsed. He managed to get his mother and three other people out of the bar in time, but one neighbor and the person’s daughter were unable to escape.

“It was like an avalanche, it fell all at once. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Torre told the AP as rescue helicopters hovered overhead. “Every neighbor has lost a loved one, has lost two, three, four members of the same family, kids.”

Petropolis’ city hall declared three days of mourning. Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro expressed solidarity while on a trip to Russia, as did his counterpart Vladimir Putin.

“May God comfort their family members,” Bolsonaro said Wednesday in a press conference in Moscow.

Southeastern Brazil has been punished with heavy rains since the start of the year, with more than 40 deaths recorded between incidents in Minas Gerais state in early January and Sao Paulo state later the same month.

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Story: Diarlei Rodrigues and David Biller. Associated Press journalist Diarlei Rodrigues reported this story in Petropolis and AP writer David Biller reported from Rio de Janeiro. AP writer Diane Jeantet in Rio de Janeiro contributed to this report.

PHOENIX (AP) — The priest was beloved by his parishioners — yet for years he made a one-word ritual mistake, repeatedly, that has caused confusion and anxiety for thousands of Catholics in the Phoenix area now worrying that they were improperly baptized.

Under scrutiny are baptisms performed by the Rev. Andres Arango, who served in Arizona for 16 years. Catholic officials estimate that thousands of baptisms are now presumed to be invalid because he used incorrect wording, and they say those affected may need to be re-baptized. Some may feel obliged to have other church ceremonies performed again, even including marriage.

Arango’s error was in saying, “We baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” when he should have begun the sentence by saying, “I baptize you.” The difference is theologically crucial, the Vatican ruled in 2020, because it’s not the “we” of the congregation doing the baptizing but the “I” of Jesus Christ, working through the priest.

Arango served in three parishes in metro Phoenix from September 2005 until his resignation Feb. 1, most recently at St. Gregory, where parishioners credited him with reversing a worrisome drop in membership.

“Without his heartfelt kindness, care, concern and shepherding, physically and spiritually, our church and school would be nonexistent,” said Mona Shelley, a lifetime member of the parish. She said Arango had returned to the church several times since his resignation to perform re-baptisms with the proper wording.

Fellow parishioner Christina Moishe Collins, who is also a cantor at St. Gregory, said Arango received a standing ovation after his final service there, and people waited outside with banners to thank him and show support.

“I don’t see him doing this with malice in any manner,” she said. “Father Andres is an amazing priest and he may have made a mistake, but that doesn’t change the fact that he really cares about his parishioners and really, truly, lives his faith.”

Even a parishioner directly affected by a botched baptism, Eliana Najera, said she is grateful to Arango for his ministry and wishes he could return. Najera’s 13-year-old daughter, Alysson, was baptized by Arango at another church and will be re-baptized at St. Gregory next week.

“As a mother I feel bad because all of these years I allowed her to receive Communion,” Najera said, referring to another sacrament that requires the recipient to first be baptized. “I have more questions than answers.”

The Diocese of Phoenix is trying to identify people baptized by Arango. It has set up an FAQ section on its website to confront issues related to the botched baptisms and created a form for people to fill out to start the process of getting re-baptized.

The Vatican in June 2020 issued the guidance declaring that the “We” formula was invalid and that anyone who was baptized using it must be re-baptized using the proper formula. The Holy See said it was taking action because some unnamed priests were using the “We” formula to make the baptism more of a communal affair involving parents, godparents and the community in welcoming a new member into the church.

In a note on the Phoenix diocese’s website, Arango wrote: “It saddens me to learn that I have performed invalid baptisms throughout my ministry as a priest by regularly using an incorrect formula. I deeply regret my error and how this has affected numerous people in your parish and elsewhere.”

There have been similar cases elsewhere in the past.

In Detroit, church officials in 2020 said a deacon used the wrong words while baptizing people from 1986 to 1999.

The most dramatic consequence in that case involved the Rev. Matthew Hood, who was baptized as a boy by the deacon and later became a priest: Because his baptism was invalid, so was his 2017 ordination. Hood discovered the error while watching a video of his childhood baptism, the local archdiocese said.

The archdiocese said marriages performed by Hood might not be valid and urged couples to speak to their pastor as soon as possible “so any steps can be taken to remedy your marital status in the church, if necessary.”

Hood was baptized again and ordained as a priest a second time.

Also in 2020, in Oklahoma, a new priest, the Rev. Zachary Boazman, learned that his baptism was invalid. Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley subsequently validated marriages performed by Boazman, who was baptized and ordained again.

Katie Burke, a spokesperson for the Diocese of Phoenix, said rank-and-file Catholics brought the issue of Arango’s baptisms to the attention of the church.

“Likely, the people who heard it happen in Phoenix were aware of these other stories and therefore knew the phrasing to be incorrect,” Burke said.

Burke said the diocese was not aware of any seminarians, deacons or priests who were improperly baptized by Arango.

In a petition to the Phoenix Diocese, parishioners requested a town hall meeting at the church to hear their views on the removal of the priest and demand answers to the diocese’s decision to invalidate thousands of sacraments. The petition also included a spreadsheet with hundreds of examples of how Arango positively impacted their lives.

Before serving at St. Gregory, Arango was pastor at Saint Jerome Catholic Church in Phoenix and the St. Anne Roman Catholic Parish in nearby Gilbert. Earlier, he served in San Diego and Brazil.

Andrea Reyes, a lifelong St. Gregory parishioner, became friends with Arango during a church trip to Israel in 2017 and has kept in contact since he resigned.

“He basically said that this is a very unique situation, and he understands that he made a mistake,” she said. “I was like, ‘We miss you so much.’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, I miss you guys too.’ I feel like he’s kind of grieving this as well as we are as a community.”

Another parishioner, Johnny Martinez Jr., said he and 20 family members started a group chat in which they discussed whether any of them had been impacted by the botched baptisms. Martinez found old pictures confirming that his two children were not baptized by Arango, but said he interacted with the priest multiple times.

He praised Arango for his gentleness and diligence, yet said resigning was the right thing to do.

“We all have a job to do and you need to do that job correctly. It was effectively not done correctly,” Martinez said. “We just have to pick up the pieces and move from there.”

But María Vázquez, whose 6-year-old grandson was baptized by Arango and who still considers it to be valid, has sent a letter to the diocese seeking the priest’s reinstatement,

“I’m asking them to reach into their hearts and forgive,” said Vázquez. “There have been priests who have done far worse and have been allowed to remain in their churches.”

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Story: Jacques Billeaud, Luis Andres Henao and Giovanna Dell’Orto. Dell’Orto reported from Minneapolis and Henao from Princeton, New Jersey. Associated Press writers Ed White in Detroit, Terry Tang in Phoenix and Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed to this report.

MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin signaled Monday it is ready to keep talking with the West about security grievances that led to the current Ukraine crisis, offering hope that Russia might not invade its beleaguered neighbor within days as the U.S. and European allies increasingly fear.

Questions remain about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intentions, however. And countries are evacuating diplomats and on alert for possible imminent war amid the worst East-West tensions since the Cold War.

On a last-ditch diplomatic trip, Germany’s chancellor said there are “no sensible reasons” for the buildup of more than 130,000 Russian troops on Ukraine’s borders to the north, south and east, and he urged more dialogue.

Britain’s prime minister said Europe is “on the edge of a precipice” — but added, “there is still time for President Putin to step back.” France’s foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, told French television that “all elements” were in place for a strong Russian offensive, but “nothing shows today” that Putin has decided to launch one.

Despite warnings from Washington, London and elsewhere that Russian troops could move on Ukraine as soon as Wednesday, Monday’s meeting between Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov suggested otherwise.

At the session with Putin, Lavrov argued that Moscow should hold more talks with the U.S. and its allies despite their refusal to consider Russia’s main security demands.

Moscow, which denies it has any plans to invade Ukraine, wants Western guarantees that NATO won’t allow Ukraine and other former Soviet countries to join as members. It also wants the alliance to halt weapons deployments to Ukraine and roll back its forces from Eastern Europe — demands flatly rejected by the West.

The talks “can’t go on indefinitely, but I would suggest to continue and expand them at this stage,” Lavrov said, noting that Washington has offered to conduct dialogue on limits for missile deployments in Europe, restrictions on military drills and other confidence-building measures. Lavrov said possibilities for talks “are far from being exhausted.”

His comments, at an appearance orchestrated for TV cameras, seemed designed to send a message to the world about Putin’s own position: namely, that hopes for a diplomatic solution aren’t yet dead.

Putin noted the West could try to draw Russia into “endless talks” and questioned whether there is still a chance to reach agreement. Lavrov replied that his ministry wouldn’t allow the U.S. and its allies to stonewall Russia’s main requests.

The U.S. reacted coolly to Lavrov’s comments.

“The path for diplomacy remains available if Russia chooses to engage constructively,” White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. “However, we are clear-eyed about the prospects of that, given the steps Russia is taking on the ground in plain sight.”

U.S. officials said the Russian military continued apparent attack preparations along Ukraine’s borders. A U.S. defense official said small numbers of Russian ground units have been moving out of larger assembly areas for several days, taking up positions closer to the Ukrainian border at what would be departure points if Putin launched an invasion.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss information not publicly released. CBS News was first to report on the movement of the units.

Satellite images taken over the last 48 hours show increased Russian military activity in Belarus, Crimea and western Russia, including the arrival of helicopters, ground-attack aircraft and fighter-bomber jets at forward locations. The photos also show ground forces leaving their garrisons and combat units moving into convoy formation, according to Maxar Technologies, a commercial satellite imagery company that has been monitoring the Russian buildup.

Ukrainian security and defense council chief Oleksiy Danilov downplayed the threat of invasion but warned of the risk of “internal destabilization” by unspecified forces.

“Today we do not see that a large-scale offensive by the Russian Federation can take place either on (Feb.) 16th or the 17th,” he told reporters after meeting lawmakers. “We are aware of the risks that exist in the territory of our country. But the situation is absolutely under control.”

As if to show defiance, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday would be a “day of national unity,” calling on the country to display the blue-and-yellow flags and sing the national anthem in the face of “hybrid threats.”

“Our country today is as strong as ever. It is not the first threat the strong Ukrainian people have faced,” Zelenskyy said Monday evening in a video address to the nation. “We’re calm. We’re strong. We’re together. A great nation in a great country.”

The country is preparing nonetheless. Kyiv residents received letters from the mayor urging them “to defend your city,” and signs appeared in apartment buildings indicating the nearest bomb shelter. The mayor says the capital has about 4,500 such sites, including underground parking garages, subway stations and basements.

Dr. Tamara Ugrich said she stocked up on grains and canned food, and prepared an emergency suitcase.

“I don’t believe in war, but on TV the tension is growing every day and it’s getting harder and harder to keep calm. The more we are told not to panic, the more nervous people become,” she said.

Others heeded the advice of Ukraine’s leaders not to panic. Street music flooded central Maidan Square on Sunday night and crowds danced. “I feel calm. You should always be ready for everything, and then you will have nothing to be afraid of,” said Alona Buznitskaya, a model.

During what could be a crucial week for Europe’s security, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Ukraine on Monday before heading to Moscow for talks with Putin on a high-stakes diplomatic foray.

After meeting Zelenskyy, Scholz urged Russia to show signs of de-escalation, and reiterated unspecified threats to Russia’s financial standing if it invades.

“There are no sensible reasons for such a military deployment,” Scholz said.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres held talks with Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and said in a statement that “abandoning diplomacy for confrontation is not a step over a line, it is a dive over a cliff.”

U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday spoke by phone with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. According to a Downing Street statement, the two “agreed there remained a crucial window for diplomacy and for Russia to step back from its threats towards Ukraine.”

The U.S. said it will close its embassy in Kyiv and move all remaining staff there to Lviv, a city near the Polish border. Lithuania moved diplomats’ families and some nonessential diplomatic workers out of the country as well.

“It’s a big mistake that some embassies moved to western Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said. “It’s their decision, but ‘western Ukraine’ doesn’t exist. It’s united Ukraine. If something happens, God forbids, it (escalation) will be everywhere.”

So far, NATO’s warnings have had little effect: Russia has only bolstered troops and weapons in the region and launched massive drills in its ally Belarus, which also neighbors Ukraine. The West fears that the drills, which run through Sunday, could be used by Moscow as a cover for an invasion from the north.

One possible off-ramp emerged this week: Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.K., Vadym Prystaiko, pointed at a possibility of Ukraine shelving its NATO bid — an objective that is written into its constitution — if it would avert war with Russia.

“We might — especially being threatened like that, blackmailed by that, and pushed to it,” Prystaiko told BBC Radio 5.

On Monday, Prystaiko appeared to back away from the idea, but the fact that it was raised at all suggests it is being discussed behind closed doors.

Pressed over Ukraine’s NATO ambitions Monday, the Ukrainian president remained vague, referring to them as a “dream.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would welcome such a move.

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Story: Vladimir Isachenkov and Yuras Karmanau. Karmanau reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Associated Press writers Angela Charlton and Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Geir Moulson in Berlin, Jill Lawless in London, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Robert Burns in Washington contributed to this report.