Vatican envoy was only foreign official to visit Katrina victims

Vatican envoy was only foreign official to visit Katrina victims
Vatican, Sep. 19 (CWNews.com)

Vatican, Sep. 19 (CWNews.com) - The Holy See seems to be "the only state in the world" outside the US to send a government representative to visit the victims of hurricane Katrina. That was the observation of Archbishop Josef Cordes, who traveled to Louisiana and Mississippi last week as the personal representative of Pope Benedicti XVI.

Speaking on Vatican Radio, the archbishop-- who is president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, the Pope's personal charity-- said that he had been warmly greeted by both Church and government officials in the US. He pointed out that Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, DC, accompanied him throughout his visit.

"During my stay, I saw terrible scenes, but also gestures of great humanity," Archbishop Cordes reported. He said that local relief officials told him that it would take months, and perhaps years, to reconstruct the communities destroyed by the storm.

The archbishop said that the storm showed the vulnerability of the US, despite the country's material wealth. He admitted that he was worried "that this superpower would isolate itself, and remain isolated in facing this disaster." In the midst of the tragedy that struck the people of Louisiana and Mississippi, he said, "we cannot abandon the US." He also said that he hoped the impact of international help could lead Americans to see that "the world is bigger than the US."

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