Church group moves to assist Myanmar cyclone victims

MANILA, Philippines - Caritas Manila, the social arm of the Manila Archdiocese, is now in close coordination with its counterpart in Thailand for the distribution of relief goods for Myanmar cyclone victims. Caritas Manila executive director Fr. Anton Pascual said that the Thailand-based Caritas Internationalis “already gave its bank account number 0011975000 under account name Istituto Per Le Opere di Religione where donations for all the victims of cyclone Nargis may be deposited," Pascual said. Besides Caritas Internationalis, the priest said that the group is also coordinating with Caritas Myanmar and the Catholic bishops in that country in light of reports that organized assistance have yet to reach millions of survivors. “The Catholic bishops in Myanmar also opened a bank account to receive foreign funds. Aside from this, the first batch of donations from Caritas Manila will be personally delivered by Myanmar priests Fr. David Kyaw Kyaw Lwin and Fr. Philip Maka Naw Aung who are based here in the Philippines," said Pascual. The two priests will leave the country on Monday, May 19. Earlier, the Archdiocese of Manila led by Social Service Development Ministry chancellor Msgr. Roberto Canlas, instructed all parish priests in the archdiocese, to have a second collection in all their Masses on May 25, for Myanmar. The chairman of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines National Secretariat for Social Action Justice & Peace (CBCP-NASSA) and Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo also appealed to the faithful to donate whatever they can whether this will be in the form of cash or in kind. - GMANews.TV