Vatican official says pain, suffering strengthen search for God

Published: 2005-09-13

BATON ROUGE, La. (CNS) -- On the four-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks against the U.S., a special envoy of Pope Benedict XVI told displaced victims of Hurricane Katrina that pain and suffering, produced either by a natural disaster or a terrorist act, must prompt Christians to strengthen their search for God. Archbishop Paul Cordes, president of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum," which coordinates charity efforts, was the main celebrant and homilist at a Mass Sept. 11 at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Baton Rouge. About half of the overflow congregation consisted of hurricane evacuees from the Archdiocese of New Orleans, which was devastated by the Aug. 29 storm. Archbishop Cordes spent three days visiting the hurricane-affected areas of the Gulf Coast. The pope sent the Vatican's top humanitarian aid official to the region as a sign of his personal solidarity.

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