VATICAN CITY (CNS) Pope Benedict XVI has prayed for the victims of a ferry disaster that left hundreds dead off the coast of the Philippines. The boat carrying about 800 people ran aground and capsized in a typhoon on June 21. Two days later, only 38 survivors had been found.
The Pope, speaking at his Sunday blessing on June 22 in St Peter’s Square, said he had been informed of the tragedy that morning.
"While I give assurances of my spiritual closeness to the populations on the islands hit by the typhoon, I raise a special prayer to the Lord for the victims of this new sea tragedy, in which numerous children were apparently involved," he said.
The Philippines government said it was investigating why the ferry was allowed to sail despite storm warnings.
Bodies were said to be washing up on shore in the area of the sinking, east of Manila. A U.S. Navy vessel was headed toward the area to help search for the missing.
Meanwhile, as the official death toll from Typhoon Fengshen rose to more than 150, the social service ministry of the Archdiocese of Manila has been distributing relief goods, reported the Asian church news agency UCA News.
Msgr. Meliton Oso, chairman of the Archdiocese of Jaro’s Social Action Center, told UCA News June 23 that 206 families were staying at St. Elizabeth Metropolitan Cathedral in Jaro. He said volunteers were distributing food to evacuees.
"People just come to bring a cauldron of soup" or other food, he said, adding "we need all the hands we can get."