ASIA/PAKISTAN - “It is our duty to pray for the victims and their families and to face this disaster with courage, strength and faith”, said Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha President of the Conference of Bishops

Lahore (Agenzia Fides) - “Christian relief workers were among the first to reach the affected areas”, such as Belakot and Habibullah. “I wrote a letter to President Pervez Musharraf assuring him full support of the Catholic Church in rescue operations and rebuilding. It is our duty to pray for the victims and their families and to face this disaster with courage, strength and faith”. This statement was made by Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha of Lahore, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Pakistan, days after the tragic earthquake in Kashmir in which at least 40,000 are said to have been killed, at least 50,000 injured and 4 million left without a home.
The Archbishop said this is the worst earthquake in living memory and called on Catholics and all people of goodwill to show that solidarity knows no barriers.
He said the local Caritas is an example for all: “We delegate Caritas Pakistan to act in times of calamity on our behalf. Caritas lost no time in opening, camps, collecting and distributing food, clothing, medicines, tents for the thousands of homeless people living in makeshift shelter in the rigid temperatures of the Himalayan winter”.
The Bishops’ Justice and Peace Commission has made appeals Christians and non to help the affected people, organised collections and launched initiatives of ecumenical and interreligious solidarity with other Christians and with Muslim individuals and organisations and NGOs.
The archbishop recalled that 4 Catholics were among those killed in Islamabad in the earthquake and that 150 Catholics families in Lahore are living in the open having lost their homes. Church buildings in Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Abbotabad were seriously damaged In Lahore many Catholic schools and churches have cracks in the walls. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 14/10/2005 righe 27 parole 284)