Indonesian Catholics work to help victims of July tsunami

Published: 2006-07-18

JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNS) -- As the death toll from a mid-July earthquake and tsunami increased, Indonesian Catholics worked to provide aid to the victims. Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Tasikmalaya has a mission station in Pangandaran, a resort town in the worst-hit area of West Java province. Father Andreas Sudarman, pastor of Sacred Heart Church, said his assistant pastor and four laypeople would travel to the mission area to assess the needs of the victims and open an aid center to distribute goods such as medicine, food and blankets that parishioners in Tasikmalaya have contributed. "Meanwhile, we are collecting other things from this parish as well as from Bandung Diocese and Jakarta Archdiocese," Father Sudarman added. The Indonesian bishops' crisis center also was sending aid. A magnitude-7.7 earthquake triggered a tsunami on the southern coast of Java Island July 17, killing at least 340 people, displacing 54,000 and leaving hundreds missing, the Indonesian Health Ministry said July 18.

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