US Bishops to lead fact-finding mission to Philippines’ Typhoon Recovery

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. Source: VR Eng