News from Kerala

The flood in Kerala, southern State of India, has wrought more than 400 victims and about 750,000 displaced. The rescue and assistance operations are brought ahead amid great difficulties due to the inaccessibility of some areas struck. In some cases, they were forced to throw food and water from the helicopters because the streets and bridges were destroyed by the devastating floods.

The local Focolare communities writes: “We have returned from Trichy (about 300 km from Kerala), where the Mariapolis was held with the members of the Word of Life groups, spread out within a range of 120 km. But our hearts are with the people of Kerala struck by strong rains. We are still in the monsoon period, with hot winds that cause these tropical typhoons. For all we know, the members of the Movement are fine. A retreat had been programmed for the priests in Trivandrum (south Kerala), but we had to cancel it because it is not safe to travel and many of the priests who booked are involved in the tragedy. During the weekend, our local communities were busy collecting foodstuffs and prime commodities to be sent to the struck areas. We are counting on your prayers.”

Also Pope Francis prayed for the victims so that “our brothers there may have our solidarity and the concrete support of the community.”