The Pope’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, has sent a telegram on behalf of the Holy Father to Cardinal Chibly Langlois, president of the Episcopal Conference of Haiti, in which he expresses the Pope’s sorrow upon learning of the devastation wrought in the island by the passage of Hurricane Matthew, which has claimed many lives and caused considerable damage.
The number of those killed by the hurricane in Haiti is still uncertain as services are down and some communities are hard to reach, but there are already reports of well over 400 people dead. Haiti has yet to recover from the devastating earthquake of 2010.
“His Holiness Pope Francis wishes to express his sorrow and to join in prayer in the suffering of all those who have lost loved ones,» the telegram reads. «He conveys to them his sincerest condolences and assures them of his deep sympathy in these painful circumstances. He entrusts the departed to the mercy of God, that He welcome them in His light. He assures them of his spiritual closeness and his affection for the injured, and for all those who have lost their homes and possessions in the disaster. Welcoming and encouraging solidarity in this new hardship the country must face, the Holy Father entrusts all Haitians to the maternal protection of Our Lady of Perpetual Help and imparts to them, as a sign of consolation and hope, a special apostolic blessing.»
