USCCB and CRS to lead fact-finding mission to Philippines recovering from Typhoon
(Vatican Radio) The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will travel
with a delegation to the Philippines, February 2-7 to assess the status of recovery
efforts following Typhoon Haiyan which devastated large swathes of territory on November
8, 2013.
Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky will lead a group
of Church officials on the trip, which is being organized and sponsored by Catholic
Relief Services (CRS), the international relief and humanitarian agency of the U.S.
bishops. The USCCB mounted an emergency response within hours of the typhoon.
According
to a USCCB press release, the delegation will visit the Tacloban area, which suffered
extensive damage in Typhoon Haiyan. In Tacloban and other communities, the delegation
will meet with Church officials, visit damaged churches, meet with survivors of the
typhoon and view first-hand the emergency response programs run by CRS. The delegation
also plans to meet with leaders of the Church in the Philippines, including Cardinal
Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila and Archbishop Socrates Villegas, archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan
and president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines.
Other
members of the delegation will include Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City,
chairman of the CRS board, Carolyn Woo, president of CRS, Sister Carol Keehan, president
and CEO of the Catholic Health Association, Msgr. Ronny Jenkins, general secretary
of the USCCB, and Msgr. J. Brian Bransfield, associate general secretary of USCCB.
On
November 11, 2013, following the typhoon, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, then-president
of USCCB, wrote to U.S. bishops, urging them to take up special collections for the
Philippines. These have raised $7.2 million for humanitarian relief and church rebuilding
and $2.9 million strictly for humanitarian relief. To date, CRS has received over
$50 million in donations, including $27 million from bishops and dioceses. More information
on the CRS response to Typhoon Haiyan, including how to donate, is available online:
http://crs.org/typhoon-haiyan/. .