Typhoon Doksuri wreaks havoc in China

THE general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Revd Professor Jerry Pillay, has written to the China Christian Council expressing concern and sympathy after Typhoon Doksuri hit China. “With its ferocious winds, torrential rains, extensive flooding, and loss of life and property, Doksuri has brought catastrophe and fear to the lives and fortunes of tens of millions of Chinese, especially in the north, including Beijing,” he writes. “Especially concerning are the extent, duration, and intensity of this weather system, a fresh and disastrous assault by climate-related conditions.” At least ten people have died. Thousands more are missing. At-risk areas of the northerly Hebei province were evacuated at the weekend: about 1.54 million people.

Archeparch laments harm to family life in Syria

THE values of family and vocation have been lost in Syria owing to the country’s 12-year civil war, the Maronite Archeparch Samir Nassar of Damascus has said. He told AsiaNews this week that, in the past, the Church in Syria had “depended on a united and close-knit family, and on the abundance of vocations”, but that “12 years of war have delocalised the family: the father is either exiled or emigrated. The mother is sick or depressed, the children are abroad, each one in a different country. Even grandparents, once honoured at home, are now isolated, and die in silence.” Syria has gone from “an abundance of vocations” to only 37 seminarians, he said. “A demographic weakening, empty houses, and Churches thirsty for its faithful, the family, a strong pillar of faith is a shaken asset.” Late last month, the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, celebrated mass in St Ignatius of Loyola, in Rome, on the tenth anniversary of the disappearance of Fr Paolo Dall’Oglio: an Italian Jesuit priest who founded the Monastic Community of Al-Khalil, in Syria, to encourage hospitality, ecumenism, and dialogue with Islam (News, 2 August 2013).

WCC supports Colombian peace process

THE general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Revd Professor Jerry Pillay, congratulated President Gustavo Petro Urrego of Colombia after the first peace agreements were reached between the government and the National Liberation Army. In a letter dated 28 July, Professor Pillay urged all other armed groups to join the momentum for “total peace” and to begin round-table dialogue and negotiation with the government. “As we look forward to the full entry into force of the bilateral, national, and temporary ceasefire on 3 August, WCC is seeking to increase its engagement and support for the peace process,” he wrote. “In the meantime, I pray that your commitment will remain resolute.”