World prays with Philippines; DEC calls for action on climate change

Prayers have been said around the world for the victims and survivors of Typhoon Haiyan. In the Philippines yesterday, many thousands of parishioners attended Sunday Mass, often held in half-destroyed, flooded churches. Some came to give thanks for surviving, while others prayed for their loved ones who died or those who are still missing.

Speaking after a service in Guiuan, the the first town that was hit by the typhoon, Belen said: "The Lord has strengthened our faith and made us stronger in order for us to survive and start all over again."

Ranier Alibadbad, 26, lost his father last week, two days after Typhoon Haiyan struck. His father, aged 52, was repairing his destroyed home when he had a heart attack and died. Ranier says it was the stress that killed him.

Now Ranier was busy at work in the Redemptionist Church in downtown Tacloban, one of the worst hit towns, helping to get supplies out to the parishioners. He said: "I don't ask why God does this, but God does this for a reason. He challenges us for a reason. I am not saying he is punishing us - that was what they thought in my father's time. He challenges us to have faith.'

He said there was no use in people retreating to a cloistered world of prayer to ask for help. "It is about people giving service to other people in this time," he said.

Parish priest Fr Amadero Alvero, who has been working all week to help distressed families, offfed Mass for some 500 people in his half-destroyed and flooded Santo Nino church in Tacloban. He said he found the scale of the catastrophe difficult to comprehend.

Thousands of bodies have been collected but many more still lie under the rubble. Identification is not always easy, particularly in cases where whole families have died.

The authorities are photographing and fingerprinting bodies, and writing details of any belongings they find, in order to build up a record of who has died, before burying them in mass graves.

Meanwhile, the UK's Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) group of charities urged countries to take urgent action on climate change, as UN talks enter their second week. The committee, comprising 14 aid agencies, said Typhoon Haiyan was a glimpse of the future for millions who will be at risk from extreme weather. It said the meeting in Warsaw should agree to rapidly cut carbon emissions.

Neil Thorns from CAFOD, said: We need to see a response from the delegates in Warsaw to match that of the overwhelming response of the public to this devastating tragedy”

"It is not fair, it is not just and it cannot go on that those living in poor and vulnerable communities, such as in the Philippines, are being affected now whilst governments fail to steer us to a better future based on our shared responsibility to care for our planet now and for future generations."

"The images we have seen from the Philippines are a reminder that climate change is not about numbers and process, but a growing reality for poor people”

To donate to CAFOD's emergency fund click here: www.cafod.org.uk/