Cardinals sending €150,000 to Haiti, Iraq

(December 27, 2010) The world’s cardinals are offering the needy of Haiti and Iraq personal donations adding up to €151,000 ($199,000). Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, reported that the cardinals took up the collection during the extraordinary consistory in November. The sum will be split between the two countries. Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone will send the donation to the respective nuncios, who will distribute it to the poor and sick of each region. Pope Benedict recalled the suffering and pain of these two nations among others, in his ‘Urbe et Orbi’ message on Christmas Day. He said Haiti still continues to suffer in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake and the recent cholera epidemic. Iraq's Christians, meanwhile, are suffering a series of particularly dramatic attacks.