The Church organizes solidarity before the earthquake in Myanmar

Alexandra Sergan – the Vatican City

At 12:51, the exact time of the 7.7 earthquake -preparation on the Richter scale, which shook Burma on Friday, March 28, sirens across the country seemed to celebrate the beginning of an official duel for the victims. More than 2,700 dead, 3900 wounded and hundreds of missing persons, according to the latest estimates of the Perry authorities on April 1. These numbers are reduced, according to NGOs and the victims themselves.

“Although several days have passed since the earthquake, many people are still trapped to save them,” says one of the teachers stationed in Sagaing, a city of the center of the country, a few kilometers from the earthquake center.

Rescue operations have been disabled through frequent symmetric copies and a lack of road infrastructure. “A large number of bodies have not been buried and the bodies of the bodies were arranged significantly. Because of the impossibility of restoring some bodies and heat, bad smells began to spread throughout the city.”

A natural disaster added to the human catastrophe

20 km, in the Mandalay region, where 2.5 million people live, the damage is great. “Nearly 70 % of the city of Mandalay has been destroyed,” wearing a French missionary based on the outskirts of the second city in the country. Since its people are in a rural area, away from the skyscrapers, there was no dead and barely wounded. But the residents are still shocked, “people are tired, it’s more shocking.”

The first tremor occurred at the time of the nap, when the majority of the city’s population was out, sleeping in the shadow in this hot season where temperatures can reach 40 degrees Celsius.

“Maybe save this life,” says the missionary. Although his people have saved, the priest, whom the phone called, still witnesses the suffering of the victims in the surrounding areas: “I have knowledge looking for the rubble, and once the bodies are found, they must rebuild them to present them to the families. It is really tragic.”

Not far, Muslims suffered from a generalized duel when the earthquake occurred late this morning, during Friday prayers. “It was Friday in Ramadan, and many Muslim believers were in mosques, and in some cases the mosques came, the matter was terrible.” The Islamic community, which represents only 4 % of the population of this Buddhist country mostly, paid a high price, with nearly 700 people, according to the Associated Press.

Although according to the latest information, Christian society came out relatively safely, these places suffered a great destruction. Many Catholic churches have suffered from Mandalay from damage.

In the state of Shan, the wrong ceiling of the San Jose Cathedral collapsed in Tonghei, according to another French prophet in the north of the epic area, several hundreds of kilometers away. He was contacted by phone after several days of the earthquake, and this sperm states that he did not feel any tremor, and that he realized the damage after more than 24 hours, because he had the right to access the Internet for only ten minutes in an area of ​​four days.

“This natural catastrophe joins the human catastrophe that has lived since 2021, with many fighting, especially in the epic area and in the state of Shan,” regrets. “The population had already weakened, as many refugees live in camps in very risky conditions, not to mention an important economic crisis.” “The country suffers greatly, I didn’t need this …”

Fighting humanitarian aid to reach

Humanities are enormous. There is a shortage of drinking water, dry food and medical supplies, as well as blankets and mosquitoes for outdoor sleep, because all buildings are at risk of collapse. The Ava Bridge, which tied the epic with Mandalay, is no longer present.

“It is very unstable, which makes it very dangerous. It is only allowed to use a limited number of small compounds. To take help in feeding, you must cross the river.”

The delivery of the air aid is also complicated, because most airports are damaged. “The help is coming little by little, but it is complicated because Mandalay Airport is closed because its path is not possible and the planes can land.” “Therefore, aid can only reach the road from Ranjan, in the south of the country, but there are 8 hours of travel between Ranjan and Mandalay.”

The political siege resulting from a civil war has been added to the army with many ethnic factions since 2021. In an interview granted to the Vatican Vytikan News Radio, the Cardinal Charles Mong Bo, head of Rangan bishops, requested a high fire and that assistance came without obstacles to the affected population. But the military council resumed its attacks after the earthquake in the state of Shan, in the northeast of the country, according to information published by Agence France -Presse.

The church with the victims

The French priest in the Mandalay region admits: “The day of the earthquake, we are still doing the rule at the age of five.” “We continue to celebrate the secrets and the Mass, and we try to help each other.” Build a small cabin, for example, to house everyone.

Caritas collaborators are currently coordinating emergency responses, focusing on access to drinking water, distribution of food, medical care and temporary shelters. according to A press release issued by Securs Catholique On Tuesday, the emergency unit was created and the Mandalay team was left by road to conduct an evaluation with other international organizations. A call to raise donations was also made to help the Burmese population.

Francisco prayer and its spiritual proximity, which was expressed in a telegram sent on March 28 and signed by Cardinal Petro Parolin, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Apostolic Workers, to the missionaries. “It allows us to tell ourselves that we are not completely alone, and that we do not forget, because this is the impression of Burma.