Responding to Hurricane Katrina’s Devastation in the USA: President of the CCCB Sends Message of Solidarity
Friday, September 02 2005(CCCB – Ottawa)… Most Reverend Brendan M. O’Brien, Archbishop of St. John’s and President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, on behalf of his Canadian Episcopal colleagues, expressed his deepest sympathy to his American counterpart yesterday, offering prayers and solidarity.
“It is with heavy heart that your brother Bishops in Canada see the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in the states along the Gulf Coast. Please convey our thoughts and especially our prayers to our brother Bishops, not only but particularly in the ecclesiastical provinces of New Orleans and Mobile. We remember them and their people, especially those who are victims of the hurricane and those involved in relief efforts,” stated Archbishop O’Brien in a letter to Most Reverend William S. Skylstad, President of the American episcopal conference.
In his message, Archbishop O’Brien highlighted particular links that tie Canada to this region of the United States: “Much of the area affected was part of the original territory of the Diocese of Quebec from 1674; many of our Acadian people found refuge in that area in the time of their expulsion from their homeland in the mid-18th century; and many of the same French explorers and missionaries who traversed Canada also visited or worked in that area of your United States of America. For many Canadians, especially Catholics and including your brother Bishops here in Canada, that part of your vast land evokes profound emotions.”
Since the mission of Development and Peace, the international solidarity organization created by the Canadian Bishops, is to provide emergency aid to the poorest countries of the developing world, as opposed to developed countries, Archbishop O’Brien invited Canadian Catholics to support the efforts of the Canadian Red Cross or the Catholic Church in the United States. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has launched a nation-wide special collection to assist the hundreds of thousands of victims of the devastating hurricane. The American Bishops have entrusted the collection of donations to Catholic Charities USA, an organization working closely with Development and Peace’s American partner, Catholic Relief Services.
Information explaining how to make such donations is available on the Development and Peace web site. Sending money directly to Catholic Charities USA is the quickest way of providing aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina, but no tax receipts will be issued. If individuals decide to send cheques written in the name of Development and Peace, their donations will be collected and forwarded to Catholic Charities USA via the Caritas Internationalis network. As it always does in such cases, the Canadian organization would issue tax receipts to individual donors.
Catholic Charities USA
2005 Hurricane Relief Fund
PO Box 25168
Alexandria, VA 22313-9788
http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/news/HurricaneRelief05.cfm
1-800-919-9338.
Canadian Red Cross
www.redcross.ca
1-800-418-1111
Development and Peace
www.devp.org
1-800-494-1401
For More Information Contact:
Sylvain Salvas
Director, Communications Service
Tel: (613) 241-9461
Fax: (613) 241-9048
salvas@cccb.ca