Libya's Catholics call for help

NATO launched a number of missile strikes against targets in the Tripoli area on Tuesday that witnesses say appeared to include Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's compound. Libyan officials said four children were wounded by flying glass caused by blasts from the strikes.

“We have no more social life in Tripoli. Many families have left; children have no more school,” says Monsignor Giovanni Martinelli, Apostolic Vicar of Tripoli.

“The people are very tired. The women came to the church asking, ‘Please Father, tell the Holy Father to do something for us,’” Monsignor Martinelli told Vatican Radio.

Meanwhile, the U.N. refugee agency has appealed to European countries to step up efforts to rescue people fleeing Libya in overloaded and unseaworthy boats.

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday that “any boat that is leaving Libya should be considered, at first glance, as a boat in need of assistance.”

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