CRS
collecting funds (see related story below)
Rescue workers stand in the debris of a destroyed
house in the town of Onna, Italy, April 7. Rescuers used mechanical diggers
and their bare hands to search for survivors of the earthquake that hit
central Italy in the night April 6 and killed more than 260. In Onna,
40 of the town’s 350 residents died.
CNS PHOTO/CHRIS HELGREN/REUTERS
CRS collects
funds
for quake victims
Catholic Relief Services, the relief and development arm of the Catholic
Church in the United States, is assisting its sister agency in Italy
to help hundreds of victims of the deadly April 6 earthquake that
struck in the province of L’Aquila.
CRS reported that Caritas Italiana has set up a response center in
Pettino, a town near L’Aquila, to coordinate relief efforts
and collect and redistribute food, blankets, hygiene items and clothes.
In addition, eight tent camps have been erected around the earthquake
zone where the displaced are receiving moral and psychological support
from psychologists and Caritas volunteers.
The local Caritas office in L’Aquila and the bishop’s
house were destroyed in the quake, in addition to 30 of the 120 churches
in the affected area.
CRS is collecting donations that will be forwarded to Caritas Italiana
to aid their earthquake relief work:
• Donate via phone: 1-877-HELP-CRS
• Donate online: www.crs.org
• Write a check: Catholic Relief Services, P.O. Box 17090, Baltimore,
Maryland 21203-7090. (Please write “Italy Earthquake Emergency”
in the memo portion.) |
By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Encouraging solidarity with
the victims of the earthquake that struck central Italy April 6, Pope
Benedict XVI also promised to visit the survivors.
“My dear ones, I hope to come see you as soon as possible,”
the pope said April 8 at the end of his weekly general audience, which
was televised throughout Italy.
Shortly after the papal audience, Italian government officials raised
the official death toll in the city and province of L’Aquila to
260 people and said more than 1,000 were injured, about 100 seriously.
Over 28,000 people have been left homeless.
The main quake, which struck at 3:30 a.m. April 6, registered a magnitude
of between 5.8 and 6.3 on the Richter scale. Hundreds of tremors followed,
including an aftershock April 7 that registered 5.3 on the Richter scale
and caused more buildings to crumble.
Pope Benedict praised the work of the Italian government, police, firefighters,
military and volunteers working to rescue victims, house and feed the
thousands left homeless, and ascertain which homes, churches, offices
and businesses are safe to enter.
Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said the papal visit
to the region would take place after Easter.
Among the rescue workers assisting in the region were eight members of
the Vatican fire department.
Domenico Giani, director of Vatican security services, told Vatican Radio
that as soon as he heard about the earthquake he and the officials in
charge of the Vatican governor’s office discussed ways they could
help and then spoke to Pope Benedict about it.
“It seemed important at this moment of great pain to ensure that
one of our fire department squads was present to lend a hand,” he
said.
The firefighters, including a structural engineer, were sent to Onna,
a tiny town near L’Aquila that was almost completely destroyed by
the quake; 40 of the town’s 350 residents were killed.
Giani said that, after helping recover bodies the first night, the Vatican
firefighters started assisting the survivors.
Interviewed from Onna, Paolo De Angelis, the Vatican structural engineer,
told Vatican Radio April 7, “The situation is disastrous. The town
is destroyed.”
But, he said, even though most of the residents have lost everything,
they are helping each other.
The quake, which was felt even 70 miles away in Rome, also did major damage
in the town of Paganica, where it claimed the life of Abbess Gemma Antonucci,
head of the Poor Clares’ Convent of St. Clare, when the roof of
the convent caved in.
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