Cardinal Tagle seeks prayers for Indonesia tsunami victims

MANILA, Philippines — During Christmas Eve mass, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle called on the faithful to offer prayers for those affected by the tsunami that killed close to 400 people last Saturday in Indonesia.

In his homily during the mass delivered at the Manila Cathedral on Monday night, Tagle urged the people to be in solidarity with those suffering this Christmas, such as those who lost loved ones and property from the tsunami that smashed into the coasts of Sunda Strait between the islands of Sumatra and Java.  

It was reported that at least 373 people died when the Krakatoa volcano erupted that led to a tsunami. 

“As we celebrate the birth of Christ we keep our unity, solidarity with our brothers and sisters who might be suffering because of the bad weather,” Tagle said. 

“And we unite ourselves in a particular way with our brothers and sisters in Indonesia, they just have this deadly tsunami. May I invite everyone to pause and in a moment of silence let us pray for our brothers and sisters who are suffering especially in Indonesia,” he added.

Like the Philippines, Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire which is a horseshoe-shaped area around the edges of the Pacific Ocean where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.

Meanwhile, Bishop Noel Pantoja, national director of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC), said people must remember that the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ is “man’s greatest hope in the world.”

“The coming of Jesus Christ is a necessary work of God to reconnect people to God,” Pantoja said.

He said that Christ, the Messiah, came to the dark and sinful world to give people hope.

“People may disappoint, abandon, betray and forsake you, but God is with you (Immanuel) and working for your sake,” the PCEC official said.

“Let us fix our hope completely on grace being brought to us by the coming of Christ. May we bring the message of hope to the hopeless, the destitute, the oppressed, the persecuted, the sick, the dying, the cast out, the sinner and to all who need the saving power of God,” he said.