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Philippines: Hope in the face of disaster


Fr Edwin with CAFOD supporters

Fr Edwin with CAFOD supporters

One of the many impressive features of Laudato Si, Pope Francis' recent encyclical, is the rich background - helpful an understanding of the impact of climate change on people round the world - provided by his references to the statements of bishops from Latin America and the Caribbean, Australasia, North America, Europe and several other regions. All of the bishops' conferences involved expressed anxiety about the deterioration of living conditions or of the ecology, none more poignantly than the bishops of the Philippines who asked in 1988 "Who turned the wonderworld of the seas into underwater cemeteries bereft of colour and life?"

On Saturday July 11, Fr Edwin Garuguez, Edu told an audience at CAFOD's Romero House, about the impact on the Philippines of the Haiyan Typhoon in November 2013. This catastrophic event made a cemetery of large areas of the land for more than 6,000 people and wrecked the lives on many thousands more. But Fr Edu's story was one of hope and encouragement. He is the executive secretary of an agency which is a CAFOD partner, through which CAFOD channelled the generous contributions of tens of thousands of Catholics in England and Wales for relief and reconstruction in the areas devastated by the typhoon, one of the most violent and destructive ever recorded.

Fr Edu said that the material help had come quickly to those in need and that within three days food and clean water as well as tents and blankets were widely available to those in need. Among the agencies which had been most quickly off the mark and most useful in the help provided was CAFOD and Fr Edu expressed warm thanks to all who had helped.

No one can say that Haiyan was the result of climate change: global warming is thought likely to have added to the force of the winds unleashed in 2013 but Fr Edu made it clear that there is no doubt that changes in weather patterns in the islands are having most damaging effects on agriculture and living standards. The calls in Laudato Si were presented for all people to care for the land and sea and all the life they sustain were made to appear all the more urgent and compelling. Food security was increasingly being undermined and nearly all of the damage done by climate change fell on the shoulders of the poor. He said that social inequality which Pope Francis in Evangelii Gaudium had called the greatest evil of our time, was widening rapidly in the Philipppines.
Inspired by Pope Francis' words CAFOD is joining with Catholics worldwide, as part of the Global Catholic Climate Movement, to urge our Prime Minister and on other world leaders to take action to prevent climate change pushing people deeper into poverty.

Visit www.cafod.org.uk/Campaign/One-Climate-One-World/climate-petition to download CAFOD's petition and add your voice to those calling for action on climate change.

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