Birmingham: Catholics raise £250,000 for tsunami appeal

Catholic parishes throughout Birmingham have collected more than £250,000 pounds for the Tsunami Appeal. The majority of the money has been given to CAFOD, a member of the Disaster's Emergency Committee that co-ordinated relief following the disaster that struck the countries of Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Thailand and Somalia on 26 December last year.

Some parishes have given money to the Missionaries of Charity, the religious order founded by Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who work in inner city Birmingham. Other parishes have direct links with Catholic churches in Sri Lanka and India through parishioners who have relatives and friends caught up in the disaster. These parishes sent money directly to help the vital rebuilding programme.

Canon Pat Browne, Episcopal Vicar for Birmingham, said: "There was an immediate and extremely generous response by Catholics in parishes throughout Birmingham." Canon Browne added: "The Tsunami brought death and devastation on an unprecedented scale. I encourage Catholics to continue to remember the victims and the survivors in their prayers and giving during this season of Lent."