Nuncio: Families must not be split up after disasters

(Vatican Radio)  The Apostolic Nuncio to Japan, Archbishop Joseph Chennoth, addressed the UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Prevention and said families should not be split up after disasters. In his address, the papal diplomat spoke of how families play “a crucial role” in fostering resilience and solidarity that help communities to rebound after a disaster. Archbishop Chennoth also pointed to the importance of retaining hope in the wake of a disaster and said religious beliefs help people in this respect.  

Listen to Archbishop Joseph Chennoth addressing the UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Prevention at Sendai in Japan: 

Archbishop Chennoth began his address by expressing his condolences and "profound solidarity" for the cyclone disaster which has devastated the archipelago of Vanuatu in the south Pacific. He noted that when disasters strike, it is often the poor and most vulnerable who are “disproportionately affected" and said these events can often “further destabilize already fragile economies.”

Saying families play a crucial role in face of disasters by fostering resilience and solidarity, the Nuncio stressed that families should not be split up after a disaster has occurred. Keeping hope alive after such traumatic events is also very necessary to help communities to rebound and recover from a disaster. Archbishop Chennoth said the “courage and perseverance that come from religious traditions” can help the afflicted communities to retain their hope in these situations.