Pope urges solidarity for disaster victims in Philippines, China, Iran

(August 13, 2012) Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday called on the solidarity of the world for the Filipinos and Chinese struggling with devastating floods and people in northwest Iran hit by earthquakes. “These events have caused numerous deaths and injuries, thousands of displaced people and extensive damage,” the Pope said after his weekly midday ‘Angelus’ prayer with pilgrims and visitors at the summer papal residence of Castel Gandolfo, southeast of Rome. Saturday’s twin earthquakes around Tabriz city has claimed at least 306 lives, while a new storm is threatening northern Phillipines, including the capital, Manila that has been badly battered by monsoon rains in which nearly 100 have died; and a typhoon slammed eastern China's coast on Wednesday, washing out roads, knocking out power and disrupting transport in one of the nation's most populous regions. Pope Benedict invited all to join him “in prayer for those who have lost their lives and for all the people tried by such a devastating disaster.” May our solidarity and our support not lack to these our brothers and sisters,” the Pope added.
Before the ‘Angelus’ prayer, Benedict XVI shared a reflection on Sunday’s Gospel about Jesus claiming to be “the true bread which came down from heaven, which is able to keep alive, not for a moment or part of the journey, but forever.” The Pope noted the Jewish belief that the true bread from heaven was the Law, the Word of God, and that knowing God's will was the right path of life. Yet when Jesus claims to be the Word of God and hence the true bread, the Jews refuse to go beyond his earthly origins as the son of Joseph and Mary and refuse to welcome Him as the Word of God made flesh. “This bread, indeed, requires the hunger of the inner man,” according to St. Augustine, the Pope said, adding, “eating the living bread in fact means believing in Him.” “He that believes eats; he is satisfied invisibly, because invisibly is he born again,” the Pope added.