Chicago Catholics raise money for Catholic Sri Lankan orphanages

Published: 2005-02-03

CHICAGO (CNS) -- On top of raising more than $756,000 for tsunami relief to be distributed by Catholic Relief Services, Chicago Catholics have also been sending donations directly to Catholic orphanages in Sri Lanka. For the past 29 years, parishioners at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Winnetka have sent donations to an orphanage run by Jesuit Father Paul Satkunanayagam, who stayed at the Chicago-area parish while he was studying at Loyola University in the 1970s. This January, parishioners collected more than $127,000 for the orphanage that was destroyed by the tsunamis. The priest, who saw the high waters approaching, was able to get the 300 children to high ground and they survived. Deacon Mike McNulty, who is at Sacred Heart Parish and met Father Satkunanayagam when he came to Chicago, said the population of the orphanage has multiplied since the disaster.

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