Church officials in the Philippines have appealed for prayers as the volcano Mount Kanlaon erupted, prompting the government to evacuate thousands of residents from risky areas. Source: UCA News.
Government officials said that the volcano in the central Philippines started to spew ash columns into the sky on Monday with an estimated height of 5000 meters. The risky zone covers a six-kilometre area, which is home to over 80,000 residents on Negros Island.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology issued Alert Level 3, up from Alert Level 2, on Monday and asked residents in the risky zone to evacuate immediately.
The Diocese of San Carlos, which covers the island, sought “forgiveness” for sins and prayed that people and their possessions “be spared from the threat of calamities, natural and man-made”.
The diocese said in a statement on Monday that humans are blamed for increasing natural calamities.
“We acknowledge our sins against [God] and the rest of [his] creation. We have not been good stewards of nature. We are confused about [God’s] command to subdue the earth. The environment is made to suffer our wrongdoing, and now we reap the harvest of our abuse and indifference,” it said.
“Global warming is upon us. Typhoons, floods, volcanic eruption, and other natural calamities occur in increasing number and intensity,” it added.
Department of National Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr told a state-run news agency that the government is “preparing for the worst” in case the level of alert is raised to 4, which increases the radius to a 10-kilometre danger zone.
Jing Rey Henderson, head of communications and partnership development of Catholic charity Caritas Philippines, said the agency is ready for the affected people.
“As of the moment, the dioceses are mobilising their social action centres to support communities affected by Kanlaon. Our humanitarian team is coordinating all possible actions at the national level,” Mr Henderson said yesterday.
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Philippine Church calls for prayer as volcano erupts (By Ronald Reyes, UCA News)
