Anglican Communion News Service - Digest News

From spare pocket change to thousands of dollars and additional pledges of ongoing assistance, Anglicans and Episcopalians around the globe rallied Jan. 14 to aid their sister Diocese of Haiti in the aftermath of the worst earthquake in the island nation's history.

News of the Jan. 12 magnitude 7 earthquake, which destroyed most of the Episcopal Cathédrale Sainte Trinité (Holy Trinity Cathedral) complex including the residence of Bishop Jean-Zaché Duracin in the capital city Port-au-Prince, reverberated across the international religious community, evoking prayers and eliciting concern for the missing and injured, as the death toll, estimated in the thousands, continued to climb.

Church leaders, from Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori to Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, urged a generous and immediate response, while acknowledging tough economic times.

"I urge your prayers for those who have died, been injured, and are searching for loved ones -- and I urge your concrete and immediate prayers in the form of contributions to Episcopal Relief and Development, who are already working with the Diocese of Haiti to send aid where it is most needed," Jefferts Schori said in a Jan. 13 statement.

ERD, the international relief and development agency of the Episcopal Church, had already disbursed emergency funding to the diocese to help meet immediate needs such as providing shelter, food and water, according to director Robert Radtke.

Williams commended the swift mobilization of relief efforts by the United Kingdom Department for International Development and relief agencies. "We stand alongside all the people in Haiti affected by this terrible disaster in prayer, thought and action as the situation unfolds," he said.

"I urge the public to hold the people of Haiti in their prayers, and to give generously and urgently to funding appeal set up for relief work," he added. The International Red Cross has estimated that at least 3 million people have been affected by the earthquake.

Archbishop Alan Harper of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland announced an immediate initial donation of 20,000 pounds, roughly the equivalent of US$32,540, toward the relief effort. He said the funds would be sent through Christian Aid, which had partners working in the affected area.

He noted that Haiti was still struggling to recover from "the wreckage caused by hurricanes in 2008 which left what is already the poorest community in the Western world even more traumatized and impoverished. I pray for the success of the international response to the disaster and I encourage all those who feel able to do so to contribute financially to assist the people of Haiti at this terrible time."

The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, called upon the 45-million members of congregations related to NCC member communions to act immediately to support the people of Haiti and relief organizations that are sending workers, food and water, clothing and other necessities to Haiti.

"The destruction around Port-au-Prince is so massive it can't yet be measured," said Kinnamon. "What is clear is that the toll in lives and property will go beyond our ability to comprehend it. The situation has few precedents in our lifetimes and our response to it must also be unprecedented."

Article from ENS