By: Margaret Padilla
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Pope Francis has offered his prayers to the victims, their families, and other people affected by the recent loss of life and destruction in the Philippines, particularly the Visayas and Mindanao.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, wrote that the pope expressed his solidarity “with all those suffering” in the aftermath of tropical storm “Agaton” in a telegram sent on April 14, signed and sent by Parolin to Archbishop Charles Brown, Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines.
Archbishop Brown then forwarded the letter to Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.
The secretary said that Pope Francis also assured his “prayers for the dead, injured, and displaced as well as those engaged in recovery efforts.”
“As a sign of his spiritual closeness, His Holiness willingly invokes upon all the Filipino people God’s blessings of strength and peace,” Parolin added.
According to the most recent data from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), the death toll from Agaton has risen to 137.
More than 323,000 people have been displaced as a result of the storm, which damaged over 9,000 homes and destroyed 570 others.
Dozens more people were reported missing and presumed dead.