Pope
Francis, through the Pontifical Council “Cor Unum” has decided to send
an aid contribution of 150,000 dollars to assist the population of the
Philippines, devastated by the passage of the typhoon Haiyan which
violently struck the country this weekend, in particular affecting the
islands of Leyte and Samar and causing, according to unconfirmed
estimates, more than ten thousand deaths.This sum, which will be distributed by the local Church in the regions most affected by the disaster, will be used to support aid work for the assistance of displaced persons from the flooded areas, and it is intended as a first and concrete expression of spiritual nearness and paternal encouragement on the part of the Supreme Pontiff in relation to the people and territories devastated by the floods.