Pope’s appeal for victims of natural disasters worldwide

(Nov. 09, 2011) Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday expressed his closeness to the victims of natural disasters around the world caused by heavy rains and floods. “In this period, various parts of the world, from Latin America, especially Central America to South East Asia, have been hit by floods and landslides that have caused numerous deaths and displacement and destroyed homes”, the Pope noted at the end of his weekly Wednesday general audience in the Vatican. “Yet once again, I wish to manifest my closeness to all those suffering because of these natural disasters”, the Pope said in Italian. While urging for prayers for the victims and their loved ones , the Holy Father called for solidarity, so that institutions and all people of goodwill may generously collaborate in bringing relief to the thousands of people hit by the calamities.
Changes in weather patterns have been causing unusual rains and droughts in various parts of the world. Unusually heavy rains in August caused floods in Pakistan, affecting over 9 million people. Thailand’s worst floods in 50 years that began in late July, has killed over 500 people, mostly by drowning. The water has even reached parts of Thailand’s capital city of Bangkok. Southern Vietnam is also experiencing its worst flooding in a decade with 100 people lost. Last month’s devastating floods in Central America have caused a humanitarian emergency, particularly in Nicaragua and El Salvador, where some 1.2 million people are in need of urgent help, Last Sunday, Pope Benedict expressed his closeness with the victims of the floods in the Italian port city of Genoa