Vatican official says tsunami disaster made people feel powerless

Published: 2005-01-25

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunamis made people realize how small they are in the face of the forces of nature, said Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state. People spontaneously raised their eyes to heaven, "seeking some kind of response to the many questions that arise in moments of loss," Cardinal Sodano said in his homily at a Jan. 24 memorial Mass for the victims of the Dec. 26 disaster. The cardinal represented Pope John Paul II at the Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. "Some people even asked how man, who was able to go to the moon, who was able to send a probe to Titan (a moon of Saturn) more than a billion kilometers from earth, is so powerless in the face of this kind of disaster," Cardinal Sodano said. When asked if Christians have a response to "the enigma of pain," he said, Christians must respond: "Yes. God always loves us and is always near to us with a father's love." The love of God, he added, is more powerful than a tsunami.

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