Pakistani bishops ask Catholics to aid flood victims with food, prayer

(August 21, 2010) Pakistan's bishops have called for a day of prayer August 24 for victims of flooding in their nation. The day is part of a two-pronged approach by the Pakistan Catholic Bishops' Conference to respond to the needs of millions of displaced Pakistanis in a broad swath that generally follows the Indus River. In a statement to be read at Masses August 22, Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha of Lahore also asked Pakistani Catholics to assist flood victims with cooked food or dry rations, tents or other shelter and medicines to fight cholera and other diseases that are beginning to break out. "In this critical moment of national tragedy, it is our Christian duty to stand shoulder to shoulder with our Muslim and Hindu brethren and face the common calamity with courage and determination," he said. "We, your religious leaders, want to mobilize our limited resources in doing what we can to alleviate the sufferings of the many displaced persons." The archbishop also asked priests to recite daily a special prayer for people in times of storms and floods. The floods have affected up to 20 million people and a fifth of the area of the country of 170 million. An estimated 1,500 people have died. In the meantime Father Mario Rodrigues, the Lahore-based director of the mission awareness and funding agencies, said Christians and other minorities affected by severe flooding in Pakistan are being discriminated against in government-run rescue and aid programs. The Christian refugees, even in the midst of this tragedy, are being treated as second-class citizens,” he said.