EUROPE/ITALY - Italian Bishops' Conference working in support of Sri Lankans

Rome (Agenzia Fides) – The President's Office of the Italian Bishops' Conference (CEI) issued a statement expressing the closeness of the entire Church in Italy to the victims of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. “The President of the Italian Bishops' Conference encourages the ecclesial community to pray for the victims, to support the solidarity campaign being sponsored by Caritas of Italy in order to alleviate the suffering of those populations. The CEI has allocated one million Euros from the eight per thousand donations to cope with the first emergencies and the basic necessities of the victims of the war. The dedicated Committee for charitable initiatives in developing countries will deliver the allocated funds, granting the requests that they are receiving or will receive, by directly supporting the projects of local ecclesial organizations, such as Caritas, working in conjunction with the charitable institutions of the local Bishops Conference or the local dioceses.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 19/5/2009)