Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options

A double dose of natural disasters led Catholic agencies working in Indonesia to mount multiple efforts to provide emergency services to victims. The disasters—a magnitude 7.7 undersea earthquake on Oct. 25, which triggered a tsunami that swamped coastal villages in the remote Mentawai Islands, and the eruption of a volcano on Java beginning on Oct. 26—claimed more than 400 lives and displaced thousands. Authorities reported at least 400 people remained missing as of Oct. 29, four days after 10-foot waves washed away homes and other structures up to 2,000 feet inland. “Entire villages were swept away,” said Silvano Zulian, a Xaverian priest who lives in the Mentawai Islands. Local priests and women religious were among the first to reach the affected communities.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

As I sit sore and tired, I cannot also help but think that the N.Y.C. Marathon for me is a thin space, a space where I can easily see God’s presence in the world.
Robert McCarthyNovember 04, 2024
Archbishop Domenico Battaglia of Naples has been named as one of the prelates Pope Francis will make a cardinal on December 7th.
“I will not vote for president this year,” Monica Brent writes. “I cannot in good conscience vote for Donald Trump, for many reasons. However, Kamala Harris’s stance on abortion makes her a no-go for me, as well. ”
Our readersNovember 04, 2024
Pope Francis, your encyclical on the Sacred Heart, “Dilexit Nos,” is beautiful and heartwarming. And for Catholics in the United States, the timing was perfect.
Joe Laramie, S.J.November 04, 2024