Prayers for Philippines as typhoons hit southeast Asia

Archbishop Alberto Sy Uy of Cebu hoped the floods ‘awaken in us a greater ecological and moral conversion and remind us that caring for our common home is an act of faith, justice, and love’.

Pope Leo prayed for the Philippines after a super typhoon hit the country. It followed another severe storm just days earlier.

“I express my closeness to the people of the Philippines who have been hit by a violent typhoon,” the Pope said after praying the Angelus in St Peter’s Square on Sunday. “I pray for the deceased and their families, as well as for the injured and displaced.”

Caritas Philippines mobilised its national network to respond to the impact of Super Typhoon Fung-wong after it made landfall on Sunday. It forced the evacuation of more than one million people from areas at risk of flooding and landslides in the northwest Philippines.  

Diocesan authorities in Manila, Caceres, Kalookan and Virac called on parishes to shelter the homeless. Bishop Luisito Audal Occiano of Virac led diocesan-wide prayer as the typhoon passed. Bishop Herman G. Abcede of Daet called on parishes to transform “this difficult moment into an opportunity for solidarity and faith”.

Days earlier, Archbishop Alberto Sy Uy of Cebu had urged the Catholic community to open the doors of homes, churches and institutions to the 400,000 people displaced by Typhoon Kalmaegi on 4 November.  

The archbishop hoped the “unprecedented” floods, which killed more than 220 people, “awaken in us a greater ecological and moral conversion and remind us that caring for our common home is an act of faith, justice, and love”.

After causing serious damage in the Philippines, Typhoon Kalmaegi hit Vietnam’s central coastal areas on 6 November, sweeping through three provinces in the Diocese of Quy Nhon. 

Many diocesan buildings collapsed, including the Bishop’s House and Lang Song Seminary, while Quy Nhon Cathedral and other churches were severely damaged. Bishop Matthew Nguyen Van Khoi of Quy Nhon has visited worst-affected communities. 

A week earlier, following previous storms, the Archdiocese of Hue reported: “Nearly 90 per cent of parishes in the diocese, together with the Archbishop’s House and the Pastoral Centre of the Archdiocese of Hue, were under water due to historic rainfall and flooding in late October. Most residential areas lost power and fell into a state of isolation and separation which caused heavy damages and losses to daily life of parishioners”.

Archbishop Joseph Dang Duc Ngan of Hue and Caritas officials visited the worst affected communities to discuss humanitarian needs.

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