VATICAN CITY – Saying he, too, was horrified by the images of
the death and destruction caused by the earthquake and
tsunami in Japan, Pope Benedict XVI asked people to join him
in praying for the victims.
“May the bereaved and injured be comforted and may the rescue
workers be strengthened in their efforts to assist the
courageous Japanese people,” the pope said in English March
13 after reciting the Angelus prayer with visitors in St.
Peter’s Square.
Government officials estimated that perhaps 10,000 people
lost their lives after the earthquake March 11 and the
tsunami it triggered.
Speaking in Italian after the Angelus, the pope said, “The
images of the tragic earthquake and the consequent tsunami in
Japan have left us deeply horrified.
“I want to renew my spiritual closeness to that country’s
dear people, who with dignity and courage are dealing with
the consequences of the calamity. I pray for the victims and
their families and for all who are suffering because of these
terrible events. I encourage all those who, with laudable
speed, are working to bring help. Let us remain united in
prayer.”
The Pontifical Council Cor Unum, the Vatican’s charity
promotion and coordinating office, announced March 14 that
the pope donated $100,000 to the relief efforts of the
Japanese bishops’ conference.
“Obviously, material, concrete aid is necessary” to help the
thousands who are suffering, Msgr. Anthony Figueiredo, a Cor
Unum official, told Vatican Radio. “Also, the bishops are the
first responsible for charity in the diocese and they know
the needs of the people.”
“The church wants to be there not only in the short term but
especially in the long term,” after “many of the secular
agencies have gone and there’s no one to help,” he said.
Bishop Marcellino Daiji Tani of Saitama, one of the dioceses
hit hardest by the disaster, told the Catholic missionary
news agency Fides that the catastrophe is a reminder that
“life is in the hands of God and that life is a gift from
God,” and he described the tragedy as a challenge for
Christians during Lent “to practice and witness to the
commandment of love and brotherly love.”
However, he also told Fides, “Of particular concern to us is
the situation of the nuclear power plant in Fukushima. But we
must take courage, with the help of the Holy Spirit.”
Reactors at the Fukushima plant were hit by explosions and
Japanese officials were working to avoid leakage of
radiation. They ordered evacuations for hundreds of thousands
of people.
Bishop Martin Tetsuo Hiraga of Sendai, the diocese most
affected by the quake and tsunami, said many area residents,
cut off without electricity and with some phone service just
restored, were unaware of the worsening situation at the
Fukushima plant.
“You living in other countries have a much better idea of the
tragedy,” the bishop told Vatican Radio March 15.
“We are terrified,” the bishop said. “We only have the
government announcements, we have no other source of
information. We don’t even know what has happened to our
parishes in the towns and villages along the coast. We have
no way of contacting them. I can only hope that the people of
my diocese can stand together and be strong enough to
overcome this disaster.”
In a message March 13 to members of the Orthodox Church,
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople said the
Japanese tragedy demonstrates the threat posed by nuclear
power plants and it calls for serious reflection.
“With all due respect to the science and technology of
nuclear energy and for the sake of the survival of the human
race, we counter-propose the safer green forms of energy,”
the patriarch said.
The Orthodox patriarch, who is a leading proponent of a
Christian environmental theology, said in his message, “Our
Creator granted us the gifts of the sun, wind, water and
ocean, all of which may safely and sufficiently provide
energy. Therefore we ask: Why do we persist in adopting such
dangerous sources of energy?”
Meanwhile, the director of Caritas Japan told Fides, “This
painful event may be an opportunity to spread the values of
the Gospel, that is, the fraternity of all men and women, the
building of common good, the recognition that every person
has the dignity of a child of God and is important in the
eyes of God.
“If with our work and our witness, we can communicate that
then from this evil will come good,” the Caritas official,
Father Daisuke Narui, told Fides.
