His Grace the Archbishop Oswald Gomis in a letter on 27th April 2009, appealed to Hon. Gotabaya Rajapaksh, Secretary of Defence requesting to grant him to permission to the relevant authorities to transfer Rev. Fr. Vasanthaseelan from Vavuniya Hospital to Colombo General Hospital. Fr. Vasanthaseelan, sustanied serious injuries in shelling on Thursday 23rd April, in [...]
Entries from April 2009
April 23, 2009
Free as a bird
After almost 40 years working in the accounts department of Caritas Internationalis, Antonietta Grando retired this month. She takes Michelle Hough on a trip down memory lane. When Antonietta Grando first walked through the doors of Palazzo San Calisto, the home of Caritas Internationalis in the heart of Rome’s Trastevere district, it was November [...]
April 23, 2009
Fear reaching terrifying proportions in Sri Lanka
Representatives of four non-governmental organizations yesterday called on the United Nations to speak out on the situation in northern Sri Lanka and urged the Security Council to take up the matter under the concept of “responsibility to protect”. Speaking at a Headquarters press conference where they discussed the situation in and around the “no-fire zone” [...]
April 20, 2009
Cyclone in Bangladesh causes no major damage
Yesterday (17-04-09) at 19:30 hours (local time) cyclone Bijli started crossing Cox’s Bazar – Chittagong coast of Bangladesh and completed by 24:00 hours. In its pathway it became weakened gradually. Cox’sBazar – Chittagong coastal areas experienced wind speed of 100 kph with heavy rain. The storm triggered high waves (tidal surge) from the Bay of [...]
April 17, 2009
Bangladesh braces for Cyclone Bijli
Situation Report ON THE TROPICAL STORM ‘Bijli’ Dated: 17/04/2009 Time: 12:00 pm A cyclonic storm ‘Bijli’ formed over the west-central and adjoining east-central Bay and moving north east, packing a wind speed of up to 80 kilometers per hour. The latest special bulletin of the Meteorology Department Office said it was centered about 525 km [...]
April 13, 2009
Easter after the earthquake
Many churches were damaged in L’Aquila’s earthquake. Masses were celebrated either in tents or in the open air on Easter day. Copyright: Caritas/Michelle Hough By Michelle Hough, Caritas Internationalis The church of Saint Francis of Assisi in the neighbourhood of Pettino was filled with boxes rather than parishioners this Easter Sunday. Meanwhile, the local bishop [...]
April 7, 2009
“The beginning of a long Calvary”
By Don Andrea La Regina – Caritas Italiana Driving up to L’Aquila, we saw towns that had been flattened. This earthquake has brought people to their knees. There was another strong tremor this morning and people are filled with anxiety as they don’t know what’s going to happen or who to turn to. I’m up [...]
April 2, 2009
G20: A view from Caritas Zambia
By Milimo Mwiba, Caritas Zambia I have unexpectedly been thrusted into the spotlight. I am the closest my country, Zambia, came to sitting at the G20 table. Okay, I might not have been able to adorn myself with the necessary passes to enter the Fort Knox Excel Centre on Thursday, where the world’s leaders met. [...]
