The
Vatican has announced that a special collection will be taken up Sunday
November 24th at the Mass presided in St. Peter’s Square by Pope
Francis marking the end of the Year of Faith.
The liturgy will begin at
10.30 a.m.
The proceeds from the collection will be offered for
the people of the Philippines who are trying to pick up the pieces
after the devastating Typhoon Haiyan which ripped through the country
November 8th.
The President of the Pontifical Council for the New
Evangelization, S.E. Rino Fisichella made the announcement in a press
conference Monday and further details were made known to Vatican Radio
today.
According to the Council for the New Evangelization,
volunteers will pass amongst the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square
before the beginning of the liturgy to collect donations.
The
Philippine collection, in fact, may be the first of its kind. As far as
many officials in the Vatican can recall, no collection has been taken
up at a papal mass in recent memory.
The Council says Pope Francis himself will decide how the donations will be distributed for the benefit of the Filipino people.
Philippine
authorities estimate more than 3,900 people were killed when the
typhoon hit and the sea surged ashore wiping away homes and
livelihoods.
The death toll is expected to rise further as the governor
of worst-hit Leyte province has said more than 4,000 people could have
been killed on the island of Leyte alone.
The International Labour Organization says some five million workers in the Philippines have had their lives turned upside down.