Pope donates $50,000 to help victims of Australian flooding

(January 11, 2011) Pope Benedict XVI has donated $ 50,000 to help the victims of the worst floods the Australian State of Queensland has suffered in 50 years. At least 10 people were killed and 78 remain missing, after flash floods hurled millions of gallons of water down Queensland State’s Lockyer Valley on Monday. The weeklong floods, which has claimed some ten victims has affected more than 200,000 people in two dozen towns. It is estimated to have caused nearly $5 billion in damages, devastating much of Australia's coal, beef and agriculture industries. The country's military has been dropping supplies into towns and is on standby for evacuations.
The apostolic nuncio to Australia, Archbishop Guisseppe Lazzarotto said in a letter on Monday (10 Jan.) that "Pope Benedict XVI, having been informed of the terrible flooding in north-eastern Australia, wished to express his closeness to the victims and their families, and, as a gesture of solidarity has instructed the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, to allocate the sum of $50,000 in response to the urgent needs of those affected by the natural disaster."
Fr. Noel Milner, who travels more than 370 miles each Sunday to celebrate Mass in three towns in the flooded areas, told Catholic Mission Australia: "We just have to sit it out, knowing that the cleanup will be a huge job, and heartbreaking for those, who have lost everything -- home, furnishings and livelihood." Bishop Brian Heenan of Rockhampton has pledged that the Catholic Church will do everything it can during the recovery process, and parishes have collected money.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced income assistance payments of about $500 every two weeks to workers affected by floods, saying: "This measure is to assist people, who are not able to do their normal income-earning work and get their normal income." A nationally televised program, "Flood Relief Appeal: Australia Unites," also raised $10 million.