Top Vatican official visits typhoon-ravaged Philippines

Jan.29,2014: The president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum visited a typhoon-ravaged region in the central Philippines on Tuesday, as part of Vatican efforts to show solidarity and provide assistance to victims of one of the country’s worst-ever storms. Cardinal Robert Sarah, head of the department responsible for humanitarian assistance and charity, said the pope wants to show "consolation and spiritual closeness" to victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan, which killed more than 6,000 people last November. Pope Francis sent the cardinal to the area to provide help for rehabilitation efforts.
Immediately after the typhoon, the Pope donated an initial $150,000 in emergency aid through Cor Unum. “The Holy Father wishes to express in my person the closeness and the loving and compassionate presence to you of the Lord Jesus and the entire Church,” Cardinal Sarah said during a Mass in Barangay, in Leyte province.
Cardinal Sarah went to Tacloban City and Palo town on Tuesday, visiting communities and leading the distribution of relief goods in devastated areas. He also made a quick visit to the Sisters of Mercy Hospital, a health facility dedicated to the poor in Tacloban City, and the Sacred Heart Seminary in Palo town. While in Palo, the cardinal also led a groundbreaking ceremony for an orphanage, a clinic and a home for the elderly in the compound of the Archbishops’ Residence. Archbishop John Du of Palo, who was accompanying the cardinal said Cor Unum, will finance the construction. The project will also include a small convent for nuns who will run the facilities, a chapel and a dispensary. Cardinal Sarah will travel back to Rome on Thursday.
Source: Ucan