Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Quito (Agenzia Fides) - “All of us Ecuadorians realize the support of the Catholic Church, not only in the national level, but on a universal level, just as His Holiness Benedict XVI has shown, with his appeal for international support for our people, especially in the cases of natural disasters that we are often struck by,” reads the report issued by the Secretary General of the Ecuadorian Bishops Conference, that met yesterday to evaluate the consequences of the floods that have been devastating the country for some weeks.
The Bishops’ Conference, on February 6, with the beginning of Lent, launched the annual support campaign called MUNERA (see Fides 7/2/2008), “to attend emergency situations for human betterment, that is promoted by the Church in Ecuador as part of Evangelization.” Among the concerns of the Committee for Social Pastoral Care of the Ecuadorian Bishops’ Conference, was the situation that brethren are living in Tungurahua and Chimborazo following the volcanic eruption, to whom they have already been able to offer abundant natural and economic resources to help them. This year, in addition, “facing the serious situation of our brothers on the coast and in some sectors of the highlands and Amazonia, we will dedicate aid to the flood victims,” the statement says.
Just yesterday, 2000 food rations were sent to victims in the Provinces of Los Rios and Manabi. Together with Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the Bishops’ Conference has provided medicines, water, mosquito nets, and toiletries, at an estimated total cost of 10,000 dollars. The aid was sent to families in the urban outskirts of the Province of Los Rios.
In the statement they issued, the Bishops’ Conference asked the faithful, “in the name of the fraternity that unites all of us, as Ecuadorians, for our common bonds of nationality and faith, to be generous in collaborating in this campaign.” The MUNERA campaign will take place as always, on Palm Sunday. This year however, due to the emergency situation that has arisen, the Bishops’ statement says that starting from now, people can begin donating non-perishable food, clothing, medicine, and money to the National Catholic Radio, in the diocesan priest residences, and in parishes, “so that the Bishops’ Committee for Social Pastoral Care can begin to distribute them to the victims, especially those living in the sectors not assisted by government aid.”
“I would like to express my gratitude, ahead of time, for all for their generosity, invoking God’s protection on all our brothers, effected by these floods, who have lost their crops and their homes, suffer from a shortage of food and clothing, as well as from illnesses,” the statement concluded. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 26/2/2008 righe 37, parole 437)
