Queensland, Australia, Aug 7, 2006 / 22:00 pm
Last week, Peter Beattie, Premier for Queensland in Australia called on church leaders around the state to pray for much needed rain as the drought-stricken region continues to struggle for moisture.
According to Queensland’s Daily Telegraph newspaper, ahead of a meeting last week with the state’s church leaders, Beattie said that "I actually would like to see everybody pray for rain."
While some are calling the premier’s actions nothing more than a political stunt, the church leaders themselves seemed to welcome the call.
Queensland’s Catholic Archbishop John Blathersby saw nothing negative about the call. He told the state’s Channel Ten news that "I actually would like to see everybody pray for rain."
The Archbishop’s office also announced that church leaders were considering organizing an interdenominational week of prayers to try to end the drought.
According to the Courier-Mail newspaper, Mr. Beattie said on Sunday that "Rainfall in the region has been well below average for the past six years and in fact it is the worst 10-year period in history…It has been dry after dry, year after year, which has led to major storage deficits in our dams."
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