ASIA/CHINA - The Catholic community in aid of earthquake victims

Shi Jia Zhuang (Agenzia Fides) - The Catholic community of mainland China has been active, as always in these circumstances, to help the population of the Chinese province of Gan Su, hit by a violent earthquake at 7.45 on 22 July. At least another 400 tremors followed. According to information gathered by Fides Agency, Jinde Charity, an organized Catholic charity reality of the continent, immediately got in touch with the Service Center of the Diocese of Lan Zhou, the capital of Gan Su. The first Catholic rescuers arrived in the earthquake area in the afternoon, at around 6 p.m., to bring solidarity and material aid to the earthquake victims. Jinde Charity continues to remain in close contact with the earthquake area to coordinate relief efforts, and through its website invites to pray and to be in solidarity with our brothers and sisters affected by the earthquake.
According to Faith of He Bei, both the church and the house of the priest and eighty houses inhabited by Catholics who are in the epicenter of the earthquake, in the town of Min Xian, where there are more than 200 faithful, are damaged. The area had already been hit by hail in May, and the harvest season was lost, but the faithful of the community of Min Xian have never been discouraged, thanks to faith and prayer, which are their strength. In the evening, on July 22, the youth of the parish of Xiao Gou Tou, of the Diocese of Lan Zhou, spontaneously gathered in the central square of the city for a prayer vigil for those who died, were missing and for the wounded due to the earthquake. Several passers-by, struck by their testimony, spontaneously joined them to pray. According to the latest data, however incomplete, the victims of the earthquake are 95, over a thousand injured, 582,000 people affected. (NZ) (Agenzia Fides 24/07/2013)