Chinese locals respond with gratitude to Catholic quake aid

Rome, Italy, Jun 10, 2008 / 03:26 am

Catholic charities are coming to the assistance of earthquake victims in China and have so far distributed camping tents, 20 tons of rice, and 307 bottles of cooking oil.

Caritas Germany, in cooperation with the China-based Jinde Charities, have both sent supplies from the Catholic community to the new humanitarian aid distribution center in the area, according to Agenzia Fides.

“We do not have words to express our gratitude towards the Catholics,” a local government official said. “The first aid shipment you sent, which we were so in need of, has already arrived. With it, we have been able to save 307 families, over 1,100 people, from starvation.”

Volunteers include bishops, priests, vowed religious, and Catholic lay faithful from China and Germany. The Emergency Office of Jinde Charities has sent a group of religious sisters to the area to provide psychological support to quake victims.

Aid workers have risked being caught in mudslides to reach the disaster center in the An Xian district.

Bishop Dang Ming Yan of Xi An helped unload the emergency tents. After finishing, he lay down on the ground exhausted causing the volunteers to joke that he didn’t worry about his “bishop’s dignity.”

On Monday a shipment of 210 tons of rice and 17.5 tons of cooking oil is scheduled to arrive in the disaster area.