Exhausted Thai priest tells of comforting injured, providing relief

Published: 2005-01-07

KRABI, Thailand (CNS) -- Every day after Mass, the parish priest of St. Agnes Church in Krabi goes out to comfort the injured, take care of the dead and give relief to survivors. Stigmatine Father Pornchai Techapitakhtam told UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand, that he "ate very little, slept very little and rested very little" after the tsunami Dec. 26 struck Nopharat Thara beach, about a half-mile from his parish church in Krabi. Though the church was not affected, he said the homes of some Catholic families were damaged. He recalled that some villagers ran into the church to tell him about the tragedy just as he was about to give the final blessing at Sunday Mass. The parishioners ran toward their homes and saw the waves had destroyed them as well as shops and restaurants along the beach. Luckily, the priest said, no parishioners were killed or injured, but many people whom the parishioners know perished, and others lost all their possessions.

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