Vatican sponsored meeting addresses road accident deaths in Asia, Oceania

(October 19, 2010) Some 55 participants from 18 countries began a meeting in the Thai capital, Bangkok, on Tuesday, to discuss the pastoral care of the road, including highway accidents. The first integrated meeting on the Pastoral Care of the Road/Street for the continents of Asia and Oceania which lasts through Saturday, has been organized by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerant People in collaboration with the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences, FABC. A highlight in the agenda is the problem of highway accidents, which the pontifical council says kill 3,000 people and 500 children daily, or 1.3 million annually worldwide. Some 90% of these casualties occur in low and middle income countries. According to United Nations figures, Asia and Oceania account for some 700,000 road accident deaths annually. It is estimated that by 2020, two thirds of the world's road fatalities will occur in the region. The Catholic Church’s apostolate of the road or street covers a wide spectrum of those whose lives are beyond the borders of home life and parochial care. The Bangkok meeting will consider topics such as "the pastoral care of road and rail-users, promotion of worthy and Christian road ethics, street women and street children as well as the homeless." The Bangkok meeting is the third in a series on this topic organized by the pontifical council. The first of its kind took place in 2008 in Bogota, Colombia for Latin America and the second one in Rome last year on Europe. The fourth will take place next year on Africa and Madagascar.