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Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

Disaster Relief Collection

May be read by Pastor from parish pulpit or inserted in bulletin. Download PDF version here.

June 8, 2008

Dear Friends in Christ,

The month of May saw a chain of horrible natural disasters here in America, including in our own state and, of course as far away as Myanmar and China. Seldom have we seen such widespread devastation, massive loss of life and hopelessness due to tornadoes, earthquakes and floods.

We felt the sorrow here in our Archdiocese in the wake of the tornado that took a toddler’s life in Hugo and destroyed 60 homes there. Prior to that, there were the widespread tornadoes in the central and southern states, most notably Georgia, Missouri Colorado and Oklahoma that claimed scores of lives and left many homeless, wounded and helpless.

In the country of Myanmar (Burma), the death toll from a cyclone of biblical proportions is expected to reach 100,000 and millions are homeless and starving. In China’s Sichuan Province, the deaths from the earthquake have already exceeded 60,000. Whole villages are buried. Schools full of children were wiped away and 5 million are homeless.

At all Masses in our Archdiocese on Sunday, June 22nd, we will conduct a special collection to aid all the suffering vicims of these near cataclysmic disasters/ Funds collected will be share by relief efforts in Hugo, the other U S states and China and Myanmar.

We are pained by China’s treatment of our religious and their disregard for life evident in their promotion of abortions. Nonetheless, when children and innocent people suffer greatly, it is our duty as Christians and Catholics to follow our Lord’s directive and to do what we can to ease their suffering. The concern in Myanmar is whether foreign aid is permitted by the junta, but that situation appears to have been resolved for the positive.

Please make your checks for this collection out to the Archdiocese of Saint Paul Disaster Relief Fund and deposit them in your parish collection basket or mail them to the Archdiocese Chancery at 226 Summit Ave., St. Paul, MN, 55102. At least 50 percent of funds collected will go to suffering families in Hugo.

Thank you for your continued generosity. God bless you.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend John C. Nienstedt, S.T.D.
Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
226 Summit Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55102
(651) 291-4400
communications@archspm.org