VATICAN CITY (CNS): Pope Benedict XVI prayed for victims of a massive earthquake in Haiti as soon as he heard of the January 13 disaster and urged the international community to provide generous assistance to the stricken population of the Caribbean nation.
Estimates of the death toll have ranged from 40,000 people to 200,000, and about 1.5 million people have been left homeless.
The victims included Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot of Port-au-Prince.
“The lifeless body of Archbishop Joseph Miot of Port-au-Prince was found this morning under the rubble of the archbishop’s residence,” L’Osservatore Romano said in a Page 1 story on January 13.
The Vatican’s apostolic nuncio in Haiti Archbishop Bernardito Auza told the Vatican missionary news agency Fides: “Port-au-Prince is completely devastated. The cathedral and the archbishop’s residence, all the big churches, all the seminaries are reduced to rubble.”
Pope Benedict made his appeal at the end of his general audience on January 13, about 12 hours after a magnitude 7 earthquake struck Haiti, toppling buildings and causing widespread destruction.
He said he wanted to highlight the dramatic situation in Haiti following the “devastating earthquake, which resulted in serious loss of human life, a great number of homeless and missing, and enormous material damage”.
“I appeal to the generosity of everyone, so that our brothers and sisters receive our concrete solidarity and the effective support of the international community in this moment of need and suffering,” he said.
The Pope said the Catholic Church’s charity organisations would immediately move into action to assist those most in need.
“I invite everyone to join in my prayer to the Lord for the victims of this catastrophe and for those who are mourning their loss. I assure my spiritual closeness to people who have lost their homes and to all those affected in various ways by this calamity, imploring from God consolation and relief of their suffering,” he said.
Archbishop Auza said he had toured the capital on the morning after the earthquake.
“I found priests and nuns on the street, who no longer have homes. Everywhere there are cries coming from under the rubble,” he said.
Archbishop Auza said a study institute for men and women religious had collapsed, with many students inside as they attended a conference.
Caritas Internationalis, the Vatican-based umbrella organisation for Catholic charities, said it was mobilising to provide immediate assistance to Haiti.
On January 13 it had already assembled an emergency relief team to fly to Haiti to assist Caritas members already working in the country.
Caritas Internationalis humanitarian director Alistair Dutton was leading the emergency relief team.
“There is a strong Caritas presence in Haiti. We already know that Caritas staff will be providing support to survivors of the earthquake, such as food, shelter and comfort through churches and parish networks,” Mr Dutton said.
Catholic Relief Services’ (CRS) communication director John Rivera said the agency had initially committed $5 million to help survivors.
CRS already had food, bedding, water storage containers and other supplies in warehouses around the country and agency staff were working to assess these were damaged in the quake. Other supplies were to be shipped from the Dominican Republic and Miami, Mr Rivera said.
