Pope Benedict XVI Blog

Powerful Peru Quake Sparks Call for Prayer, Aid

Christian Post
By Eric Young
Christian Post Reporter
Thu, Aug. 16 2007 08:49 AM ET

Pope Benedict XVI offered prayers Thursday for the victims of Peru’s powerful 7.9-magnitude earthquake and called for immediate assistance for the hundreds who were injured or made homeless.

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(Photo: AP Images / Martin Mejia)
A man leans over his child as residents injured during an earthquake that hit the area late Wednesday wait for care at a public hospital in Ica, southern Peru, Thursday, Aug. 16, 2007. A powerful 7.9-magnitude earthquake shook Peru's coast near the capital, killing at least 337 people and injuring more 827 others, the Civil Defense said early Thursday. The earthquake, which shook Peru's coast near the capital, has killed at least 337 people and injured 827, the Civil Defense said early Thursday.

In the town of Pisco, "the dead are scattered by the dozens on the streets," Mayor Juan Mendoza told Lima radio station CPN, sobbing.

He said at least 200 people were buried under the rumble of a church that collapsed while they were attending a religious service.

"[The Pope] encourages institutions and people of goodwill to offer the necessary help to those harmed, with a spirit of Christian solidarity and charity," the Vatican said in a telegram, signed by Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone, according to Reuters.
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posted by Dr. Denice Hanley, DPM, M.Div. @ 1:14 PM