Indian Cardinal’s solidarity with Italy’s earthquake victims

(April 11, 2009) Indian cardinal Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Bombay has sent a message of solidarity for all those affected by Italy’s tragic earthquake in the central region of Abruzzo, particularly its capital, L’Aquila. Cardinal Gracias, who is president of Latin-rite bishops of India as well as first vice president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Indai, CBCI, sent the message via AsiaNews.
He prayed that “the new life of Easter” may be a “source of hope and encouragement” in reconstruction. The prelate conveyed the condolences of the Church in India to the Bishop of L’Aquila and to the people who have been affected. “I entrust those victims who perished in this terrible calamity to the infinite mercy of our Loving Father and I implore divine consolation for the injured and those who suffer and the homeless. The Church in India prays for the victims that our compassionate Father gives them strength in these times of suffering and crises.”
The archbishop of Bombay also pledged prayers for rescue and relief workers and said, “The Church in India is willing to help with whatever assistance may be required for this humanitarian emergency. “Our thoughts are with the people of L’Aquila who are now going through the Passion,” he said, adding, “my prayers are that they may unite their own suffering to the suffering of our beloved master Jesus Christ.” “I would like to infuse Hope in them, that their own personal Way of the Cross will lead them to the Resurrection,” he added.
“In the Christian ethos, defeat and suffering can only be temporary for those who are with the Lord,” Cardinal Gracias told AsiaNews, and urged the people of L’Aquila not to give up hope. He assured the each of the affected, homeless, injured and those who have lost their loved ones that God was with them, and that God who was guiding the relief and rehabilitation efforts would lead them to the future of the resurrection.
Cardinal Gracias fondly recalled the warmth and vivacity of the people of L’Aquila when he paid a visit to a parish there, along with a few priest companions, some 25 years ago, while a student in Rome. He said he felt it a personal tragedy coming to realize that “some of those wonderful people may now be victims of the earthquake, people who welcomed us may be hurt and their houses which radiated with happiness are now in sadness.”