Clement said he had been informed by Father Johanis Salaki from the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Palu that there are reports of at least two churches damaged.

"Their walls are cracked. In some cases, heavy steel pillars have become detached from their brackets," he said.

He also reported that a number of priests suffered minor injuries in the earthquake.

Clement reported that at least 500 priests, nuns, seminarians and lay catholics have been forced to relocate to the compound of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish since the disaster.

A big number of teens attending a Bible camp are confirmed among the dead. "They are Catholic and Protestant students who were on a retreat in the location," said Albert Podung, a church worker who lives in Palu.

They were at the Pusdiklat GPID Patmos 'Jono Oge,' a church training centre in Sigi, located outside the provincial capital of Palu.

Officials say that another 52 young people are still missing from the camp. They expect the death toll at the Jono Oge to climb further as recovery continues.

The centre is affiliated with Palu's largest denomination, the Indonesian Protestant Church in Donggala (GPID), with around 40,000 members.

Source

• ucanews.com
• bangkokpost.com
• christianitytoday.com
• abcnews.go.com
• chvnradio.com
• ncronline.org
• Image: rollercoaster.ie

And Catholic hospitals in Indonesia have sent medical teams to treat hundreds of people injured in the earthquake.

Speaking to ucanews.com on 7 August, Sister Paulina, a member of the Congregation of Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit and spokeswoman St. Anthony Catholic Hospital in the provincial capital of Mataram, said "Medical workers are really needed right now to treat the victims."

She said the hospital had treated more than a dozen victims.

"We placed them in the hospital's parking area as the situation was unpredictable, aftershocks continued to happen," Sister Paulina said. "This morning we took them to the hospital's treatment rooms."

The Jakarta archdiocese has asked each parish to decide how they should go about collecting for the earthquake victims.

Father Samuel Pangestu, the archdiocese's vicar-general, said there are various things each parish could do.

"They can use the second collection of Sunday Mass or distribute empty envelopes to parishioners [to make donations]," he told ucanews.com.

He said all funds collected would be sent directly to Denpasar Diocese.

Denpasar Diocese has issued a similar appeal.

The appeal called on parish priests to encourage parishioners to provide aid for quake victims.

The diocese recommended that parishes and Catholic foundations send financial aid or basic necessities such as rice, instant noodles, cooking oil, drinking water and milk.

Speaking with ucanews.com, Father Dewantoro said distribution would be carried out in cooperation with Caritas Indonesia.

"With the bishop's approval, we will use the money to buy necessities.

"An emergency response team will deliver material aid including mattresses, blankets and food this Friday," he said.

Source

• ucanews.com
• ucanews.com
• Image: Screenshot abcnews.go.com

The Red Cross in Papua New Guinea says drought-resistant crops and food supplies are desperately needed in the drought-affected Highlands.

The secretary general of the PNG Red Cross, Allison Dage, says an estimated three million people are suffering from food and water shortages caused by the worst drought in decades.

The national disaster management coordinator for the PNG Red Cross, Michael Sembenombo, says there are severe shortages of food and water.

But he says there is also a critical need to inform people about hygiene and sanitation issues to try and stop the spread of disease.

"People are eating kaukau that is being spoilt by the frost and also consuming water that is not safe."

Dickson Guina, chairman of the National Disaster Committee, told IPS that 2.4 million people across most of the nation's 22 provinces are confronting a critical lack of food and water.

There are also reports of many schools and hospitals forced to close as water shortages disrupt their operations.

"Our most urgent issue is water. We don't have a river close by which we can use, so we depend on rain for drinking. But there is only one water tank for every 10 households, which is not enough," Mangab Selau, a local Goroka resident said.

"We are now drinking well water, which is not safe for our children," another villager, Hilda Jerome, added.

Source

• radionz.co.nz
• asopa.typepad.com.
• radionz.co.nz
• Image: abc.net.au

Farhat, speaking at the International conference on the global Fight against Terrorism in Theran insisted that charity, dialogue and pardon were the ways forward.

"There is no word for terrorism in my religion, Christianity," Farhat said.

Meanwhile on Friday, Pope Benedict called for emergency assistance to be given to the thousands fleeing violence and attacks in North Africa and the Middle East.

"I pray that the necessary emergency assistance will be forthcoming, but above all I pray that every possible form of mediation will be explored, so that violence may cease and social harmony and peaceful coexistence may everywhere be restored, with respect for the rights of individuals as well as communities," the Pope said.

Benedict was speaking at the AGM of the Vatican coordinating body, ROACO, where he appealled to all nations to explore "every possible form of mediation" to bring an end to the conflicts.

Sources

• FARS News Agency
• Christian Post