Dear Cardinal, (Arch)bishop, Monsignor,
We have been shocked and horrified by the destruction caused by typhoon Haiyan. As you know, thousands have lost their lives, many more thousand have been left homeless or have been evacuated. Thousands are missing and multitudes of people have no access to food, shelter or clean water.
There has been an international response to the crisis but it is of such magnitude that there is still an urgent need to support the groups working on the ground who are giving relief to those affected by the storm.
On behalf of the SACBC I sent a letter of condolence to the President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines as well as to the President Aquino. However, our words of sympathy and compassion need to be given concrete expression.
I therefore request that you appeal to all your parishes to hold prayers and also a special collection for those affected by Typhoon Haiyan within the next couple of weeks. We would like the donations to reach the Khanya House before 13th December so that it can be forwarded to Caritas Philippines – we feel it best to work through a Catholic organisation with a good reputation. Any donations arriving after that will be forwarded to Caritas at a later date.
In the meantime we have advanced R500,000 to help with relief efforts.
All donations should be deposited in the following account:
Bank: Nedbank
Name of Account: Project Caritas
Account no.: 160 4750 693
Branch code: 160 665
Reference: Philippines
Yours sincerely in Christ,
+Stephen Brislin
President
Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference
