PHILIPPINES Catholics Join Movement To Pray, Aid Quake And Tsunami Victims

Posted: 6th January 2005

MAKATI CITY, Philippines

MAKATI CITY, Philippines (UCAN): Members of religious groups gathered near Manila to pray, sing and offer condolences and flowers as confirmed casualties in the Asian tsunami tragedy mounted past 140,000.

On the morning of Jan. 3, some 30 people including Buddhists, Catholics and members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, or Hare Krishna movement, met in Makati City, south of the capital, for a "solidarity run" and interfaith service for victims and survivors of the tsunamis.

Giant waves lashed countries in the Indian Ocean region Dec. 26 following a massive undersea earthquake off the northern tip of Indonesia's Sumatra Island.

At 9 a.m. on Jan. 3, Filipino Father Robert Reyes led several people carrying white flags in the solidarity run around Makati's business district. The run ended at the Ninoy Aquino Monument, where Filipinos and foreigners offered prayers, songs and messages of solidarity.

Delegates of the Philippine team for a solidarity run

Nuns and other participants sign solidarity statement

Sister Bernadette De Silva Wijeyeratne recited a prayer on behalf of her Sri Lankan community of Sisters of the Holy Family of Bordeaux.
"We know there is deep sorrow and grief, hopelessness and fear for those who are still searching for their loved ones," Sister Wijeyeratne said, expressing hope that her people would "rebuild broken relationships and dreams."

The morning after the event, wire services were reporting more than 30,000 casualties in Sri Lanka, second only to the 94,000 deaths in Indonesia. Those two countries, India and Thailand accounted for almost all the casualties, with thousands still missing. Deaths reported in Bangladesh, Malaysia, the Maldives, Myanmar and the eastern African countries of Somalia, Tanzania and Kenya accounted for less than 500 of the total number of casualties.

Father Frankiscas Samong, an Indonesian Holy Cross priest, also was at the Makati gathering. The guest priest of Cubao diocese, northeast of Manila, told UCA News he would send home a cash contribution and "talk with other priests and Catholic Indonesians who would like to help."

Baladeva Das, 27, a Hare Krishna monk, led eight other monks with shaved heads in chanting. He said the "atmosphere will become purified by

A group of Hare Krishna monks

chanting," which will "lessen the burden of Mother Earth" and "help victims of the tsunami carry their burdens."

Members of the Philippine chapter of Buddha's Light International Association joined the assembly, which followed their Jan. 1 prayer session. Joyce Tan, the group's secretary general, told UCA News her group wanted to show support for victims of the tsunami.

After the program, participants walked to the nearby Indonesian Embassy where they offered flowers, prayers and written messages of sympathy and solidarity to Charge d'Affaires Fas Anusi at the embassy's entrance. Anusi responded with a short message of gratitude and assured the group that their message would reach the people of Indonesia.

The Philippines was not directly affected by the earthquake and killer waves, but at least five casualties came from the ranks of Filipinos vacationing or working in Thailand.

Four of the five Filipinos confirmed killed in southern Thailand were hotel workers or entertainers. The other was a vacationing student. As of Jan. 4, thirteen others were still reported missing, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines has declared Sunday .
Jan. 9 a national day of prayer for the people affected by the disaster. In a statement sent to media Jan. 3, Archbishop Fernando Capalla of Davao, president of the conference, appealed "to all Filipinos to pray for the souls of those who perished and also for those surviving families."

Archbishop Capalla urged Catholics in the country to "pray for their

Indonesian Charge dAffaires Fas Anusi who is holding flowers

respective governments, other countries as well as international bodies who are at present offering assistance." He explained that Jan. 9, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, is significant for the special intention, since almost a third of those affected reportedly are children.

The conference is also "encouraging" bishops to raise funds in their dioceses to be given to dioceses in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, Thailand, Malaysia and the Maldives to aid in rehabilitation, according to Monsignor Hernando Coronel, conference spokesperson.

He told reporters the funds would be remitted to the dioceses abroad through Caritas Philippines and the bishops' National Secretariat for Social Action, Justice and Peace. The priest explained that without "logistics" for distribution of goods, cash is the best aid the Philippine Church can give.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has set a "day of national prayer and mourning" for Jan. 7. She told reporters it is "a good day" for national prayer because Muslims pray especially on Friday and Catholics have a special devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on first Fridays of the month.

Article Source: UCANEWS