MANILA (UCAN): Philippine Church leaders joined global calls for prayers for Australia as wildfires continue to rage across of the four states, affecting thousands of lives.
People on the Internet used social media to appeal for a three-minute worldwide prayer for Australia on January 5.
Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo of Manila, called on Filipinos to pray for God’s intervention, saying that the tragedy “shows how human beings are incapable of stopping the wrath of nature.”
The bishop said the fires should be an eye-opener to everyone that climate change is real “so we should change our lifestyle to conserve energy and avoid pollution.”
The fires have been attributed to a prevailing drought and record-breaking heat.
In the northern Philippines, the Diocese of Balanga released a prayer of solidarity with the people of Australia on January 5.
“We pray for all the lives lost, homes destroyed, lands burned to the ground, and livelihoods gone,” the prayer read.
“We pray for all the firefighters and volunteers for their strength to be renewed. We also lift up to you those who struggle with despair and nonbelief in these trying times,” it said.
Bishop Ruperto Santos of Balanga, said the prayer would be recited in all parishes in the diocese.
As we celebrate the 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines. The Chaplaincy to Filipino Migrants organises an on-line talk every Tuesday at 9.00pm. You can join us at:
https://www.Facebook.com/CFM-Gifted-to-give-101039001847033
In the central Philippine diocese of San Carlos, Bishop Gerardo Alminaza also urged people to pray for divine intervention.
“You may pray the rosary, offer your Holy Communion at the Eucharist, your acts of love during the day, or you may join a worldwide call to prayer,” he said.
Bishop Patricio Buzon of Bacolod said priests in his diocese would be meeting to discuss how to respond in solidarity with the people of Australia.
Bishop Alminaza said people should continue to pray until the flames are under control even as he called on people to also “try to understand how we can help in rehabilitating the forest and healing the web of life hurt and destroyed by the fires.”
A report from the Philippine embassy in Canberra said about 300 Filipinos had been evacuated and given temporary shelter due to the bushfires. About 300,000 Filipinos live in Australia.
The bushfires, which have been raging since September, have reportedly ravaged nearly five million hectares of land and destroyed almost 2,000 homes to date.
