Vatican Rushes Relief to Tsunami Victims

The Pope John Paul II, who has been closely following the news of the Asian disaster and has appealed to the international community for aid, has approved a first instalment of aid to the populations of the countries struck by the earthquake and tsunami that violently hit the southern coasts of India, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia as well as some parts of Africa.

On behalf of the Holy Father, the Pontifical Council COR UNUM has sent emergency aid to Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Indonesia and Somalia through the respective Pontifical Representatives.

In the Church, as in other parts of the world, a unanimous chorus of fraternal solidarity has risen up with concrete responses to the appeals made by the afflicted populations: the Italian Episcopal Conference has donated over US $ 4 million, the Caritas network has already collected the sum of more than US $ 2 million. Some branches of Caritas (Austria, Netherlands, United States) have already sent experts to the region to help the various national branches of Caritas. In addition, the Jesuit Refugee Service is helping local Churches.

The Vatican, appealing for urgent assistance from world Catholics, said today it had raised 6 million dollars so far in emergency aid.

COR UNUM (meaning ‘United Heart’,) which in the Pope's name is closely following the evolution of events and the work of different Church organizations, has appealed to the faithful to generously support, individually and collectively, the efforts of the respective local Churches and charitable organizations so that a rehabilitation program for the people, so harshly affected by this devastating calamity, can start up.

Meanwhile, the U.S.–based Catholic Relief Services (CRS) announced a commitment of $25 million for emergency relief and long–term rehabilitation programs to assist people across the south and southeast Asia region devastated by the tsunami.

The United Nations estimates it will cost billions of dollars to bury the dead, battle disease and recover from the wall of water that battered coastlines in seven countries.