Holy Father expresses closeness with Myanmar’s cyclone victims
(May 6, 2008) Pope Benedict has expressed his closeness with the families of the
dead and those hit by the devastating cyclone that tore through the Irrawaddy delta
of Myanmar on Saturday. “Deeply saddened by news of the tragic aftermath of the recent
cyclone, the Holy Father expresses his heartfelt sympathy,” said a message sent on
the Pope’s behalf on Tuesday by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone
to Archbishop Paul Zinghtung Grawng of Mandalay, Myanmar. “With prayers for the
victims and their families, he invokes God’s peace upon the dead and divine strength
and comfort upon the homeless and all who are suffering,” Cardinal Berton e wrote.
The Pope hoped that “the international community will respond with generous and effective
relief” to the needs of the affected, and asked Archbishop Grawng to “convey his solidarity
and concern to the civil authorities and to all the beloved people of Myanmar.” Figures
early Monday estimated some 30,000 people were missing, in addition to a death toll
of 15,000, after Cyclone Nargis's 190 km per hour winds pounded through the Irrawaddy
river delta of former Burma. These figures were likely to grow as the full scale
of the disaster gradually unfolds.