04 Sep 2005 11:07:48 GMT
Source: Reuters
CASTELGANDOLFO, Italy, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Pope Benedict announced on Saturday he had asked the Vatican's central charity organisation, Cor Unum, to coordinate Roman Catholic aid for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
"We have all been pained in the last few days by the disaster caused by the hurricane in the United States of America, particularly in New Orleans," Benedict said during his Sunday address.
"I have asked the president of Cor Unum to give to those hit evidence of my closeness to them," he told hundreds of people gathered outside his summer residence near Rome.
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Cor Unum, which means "One Heart" in Latin, helps to coordinate Vatican relief funds but tends to operate separately from wealthy national churches and large dioceses.
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