Catholic and Caritas agencies have reached out not only with compassionate messages but also to find out how they can provide support.
“To all those that have expressed their support for Australia in one form or another, we express our immense gratitude and unwavering appreciation,” said Caritas Australia’s CEO Kirsty Robertson.
Caritas Australia is the international aid and development agency of the Catholic Church in Australia and a member of Caritas Internationalis, one of the world’s largest humanitarian networks with 169 agencies operating in over 200 countries and territories.
“It truly is a blessing for us to receive such an expression of love from our partners and a reminder of the reciprocity of our relationships within the Caritas family. I wanted to relay that outpouring from our partners overseas to our Australian communities,” said Ms Robertson.
The Catholic Bishops Conference of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands are organising a fundraiser within the next few weeks to support Australians affected by the bushfires. They expressed in their appeal letter: “As Christians we stand in solidarity sharing the pain and suffering of families who have lost loved ones, homes, businesses and eco-systems due to the raging bushfires.”
In another example of solidarity, our colleagues at Caritas Bangladesh said, “We would like to express our solidarity with our Caritas Australia family in these times of extreme trials. Our heart goes out to the people who have been affected with the devastation (of the fires) and pray to the Almighty that they are able to find the strength to cope with the situation”.
Ms Robertson said, “Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers go to all who have been affected by the fires. We thank the global Catholic and Caritas communities for your support and prayers during this time.”