Nuncio says nearly $500 million in tsunami aid from Catholic agencies

Published: 2005-01-20

UNITED NATIONS (CNS) -- The Vatican nuncio to the United Nations reported Jan. 19 that Catholic agencies were devoting nearly $500 million to victims of the tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean. Addressing a special session of the General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, Archbishop Celestino Migliore said these efforts were being carried out in cooperation with the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum," and were devoted to both emergency relief and longer-term projects. Pope John Paul II has committed Catholic agencies "to act in a genuine gesture of solidarity to all people without exception in each nation touched by this enormous tragedy," he told the U.N. diplomats. The archbishop spoke at a session designed to focus attention on both the immediate problems created by the earthquake and tsunamis and the broader issue of strengthening the ability of the international community to provide effective, coordinated responses to future disasters.

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