Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

ft)CQO The Soulhern Diocese of Savannah OSS Vol. 81, No. 3 Thursday, January 18, 2001 Pope sends prayers, agencies pledge help after Central American earthquake A statue of the Virgin Mary is found in a pile of rubble from a collapsed home in the neighborhood of Santa Teda in San Salvador January 14. A strong earthquake near the coast of Central America the day before left hundreds dead or missing in El Salvador and Guatemala. By Benedicta Cipolla Vatican City (CNS) F ollowing a major earthquake in El Salvador and sur rounding countries, Pope John Paul II offered prayers for victims, and the Catholic charity Caritas pledged to help relief efforts. In a January 15 telegram and at his January 14 weekly Angelus prayer, the pope said he was deeply saddened by the tragedy, and he urged the international communi ty to mobilize quickly. Sending “heartfelt condolences” to families of victims, he said in a telegram addressed to Archbishop Fernando Saenz Lacalle of San Salvador that he hoped the disaster would “inspire feelings of solidarity that help to assuage grief and overcome adversity.” Speaking January 14 to people gathered below his apartment window in Saint Peter’s Square, the pope expressed “my spiritual closeness to the people hit by the earthquake in that region which is so dear to me - .” While praying for the hundreds of dead, the pope also encouraged survivors not to lose hope and called on other countries to send aid to the region. “May help that can mitigate the tragedy’s conse quences result from solidarity,” he said. The January 13 quake, which measured 7.6 on the open-ended Richter scale, was centered off El Salvador’s coast and was felt from Nicaragua to as far north as Mexico City. Most of the damage occurred in and around El Salvador’s capital, San Salvador. The death toll topped 600 and was expected to rise further as rescue workers continued to pull bodies from the rubble. More than 500 were missing and presumed dead, and more than 2,300 were injured. Landslides and mudslides triggered by the earthquake and its after shocks worsened the disaster’s effects, burying people inside their homes. Foreign aid, including medical supplies, food and blankets, began to arrive January 14, just after President Francisco Flores declared a state of emergency. But Caritas Internationalis, the Rome-based Catholic charity, stressed the need for financial aid above all else. In a January 15 appeal, Caritas said Auxiliary Bishop Gregorio Rosa Chavez of San Salvador told the agency to encourage monetary donations because all relief material could be purchased locally. Caritas set its initial goal for the El Salvador drive at $1 million. In Baltimore, Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bish ops’ international relief and development agency, pledged $250,000 in plastic sheeting, potable water, blankets and basic food supplies to assist victims. CRS staffers from Guatemala joined CRS workers in El Salvador to try to channel aid to those most affected. “The destruction is devastating” said Gino Lofredo, CRS country representa- (Continued on page 7)