(Vatican Radio) The Vatican has announced that a special collection will be taken
up Sunday November 24th at the Mass presided in St. Peter’s Square by Pope Francis
marking the end of the Year of Faith. The liturgy will begin at 10.30 a.m. The
proceeds from the collection will be offered for the people of the Philippines who
are trying to pick up the pieces after the devastating Typhoon Haiyan which ripped
through the country November 8th. The President of the Pontifical Council for
the New Evangelization, S.E. Rino Fisichella made the announcement in a press conference
Monday and further details were made known to Vatican Radio today. According to
the Council for the New Evangelization, volunteers will pass amongst the pilgrims
gathered in St. Peter's Square before the beginning of the liturgy to collect donations.
The Philippine collection, in fact, may be the first of its kind. As far as many
officials in the Vatican can recall, no collection has been taken up at a papal mass
in recent memory. The Council says Pope Francis himself will decide how the donations
will be distributed for the benefit of the Filipino people. Philippine authorities
estimate more than 3,900 people were killed when the typhoon hit and the sea surged
ashore wiping away homes and livelihoods. The death toll is expected to rise further
as the governor of worst-hit Leyte province has said more than 4,000 people could
have been killed on the island of Leyte alone. The International Labour Organization
says some five million workers in the Philippines have had their lives turned upside
down.