CANBERRA, Australia — Saying that "there is no end in sight
to the horror which confronts us," Archbishop Mark Coleridge, president of
the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, said the bishops have implemented a
national response to months of wildfires.
The bishops have set up a national network, connecting people
affected by the fires with "people who can help with tasks such as
preparing meals, clearing properties, rebuilding communities, as well as
pastoral and counseling support." They are collaborating with other religious
agencies and their institutes and will take up a special collection the last
weekend in January, when Australia Day is celebrated.
Archbishop Coleridge said people who do not want to wait to
donate to their parish collections can donate to the Society of St. Vincent de
Paul, known in Australia as Vinnies.
"We have all seen the apocalyptic images, even if we are not
in the areas most affected," the archbishop said. "Lives have been
lost, homes and towns have been destroyed, smoke has shrouded large swathes of
our country.
"The efforts of firefighters have been heroic. The
resilience of the communities affected has been extraordinary."
At least 24 people have died in the fires, which began in August
and now are in four states. CNN reported Jan. 7 that more than 2,000 homes in
the state of New South Wales alone have been destroyed.
Archbishop Coleridge said the bishops were aware of "the
huge amount being done" by governments and first responders and noted that
local faith communities also were responding.
"This has been Australia at its best, and we all stand with
those who have been most stricken and with those who are putting their lives on
the line to fight the fires," he said.
He also renewed his call for "insistent prayer for those
stricken by drought and fire, for those who have lost their lives in the fires
and their families, for rain to quench the parched land and extinguish the
fires, and for urgent action to care for our common home in order to prevent
such calamities in the future."
"A genuinely Catholic response to a crisis of this magnitude
must draw strength from prayer, which inspires concrete and compassionate
action."
He said experts recognized that it would be a long-term process
to help people and whole towns rebuild.