The great floods and landslides that took 27 lives and caused enormous material damage in the north of Hercegovina and part of central Bosnia during the nights of the 3rd to the 4th of October once again showed the closeness and solidarity of Pope Francis and the Holy See with the inhabitants of Bosnia and Hercegovina through a message delivered two days later in the Pope’s Angelus and on the same day, the aid of 50,000 Euros sent to the Bishops’ Conference of Bosnia and Hercegovina.
In a statement to the Catholic News Agency in Bosnia and Hercegovina, the Apostolic Nuncio to Bosnia and Hercegovina and Montenegro, Archbishop Francis of Assisi Chullikatt said that Pope Francis, as the pastor of the universal Church, is following, among many other issues, the events of major natural disasters throughout the world.
This was the case with the latest tragedy that befell several towns and villages in central Bosnia and northern Hercegovina on the nights of the 3rd and 4th of October. In fact, already, on Sunday the 5th of October, during the Angelus in St. Peter’s Square, the Pope mentioned this tragedy in a short message of fatherly acre and friendly closeness to the victims. At the same time, he prayed to the Lord for the deceased, whilst sending words of encouragement and solidarity to the members of their families and communities who were saddened by the pain and suffering caused by the floods that hit the municipality of Jablanica, where in the centre of the disaster were the two villages of Donja Jablanica and Solakova Kula, which were almost destroyed, as well as other affected municipalities – Konjic, Fojnica, Kiseljak and Kreševo.
The Apostolic Nuncio himself visited the places affected by catastrophic floods and landslides and said that it was extremely difficult to meet people who had lost entire families or some family members, to see villages buried in mud and boulders brought by the landslide as well as people who had lost their properties.
Archbishop Chullikatt also said: “On this occasion, I would like to announce that immediately after expressing his condolences on October 5th, Pope Francis made a beautiful act of paternal solidarity by sending 50,000 euros to the Bishops’ Conference of Bosnia and Hercegovina, which immediately made the amount available to Caritas of the Archdiocese of Vrhbosna and Caritas of the Diocese of Mostar-Duvno so that they could help the victims. In this context, let us also remember other ex
The Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Francis of Assisi Chullikatt also recalled other parts of the world that were affected by natural disasters this year, as well as Bosnia and Hercegovina, such as areas in Austria, Romania, Czech Republic, Poland and recently in Italy and the USA. “Also, these days some of the Philippine islands in the central part (where I previously worked in the service of the Apostolic Nunciature in Manila) have been hit by cyclones, floods and strong landslides, causing a large number of deaths, missing people and displaced people as well as immeasurable material damage.”
As a reminder, the total damage after the floods and landslides that hit BiH in early October amounts to 270 million Marks (about 138.5 million euros), according to preliminary data on damage assessment published by the Federal Civil Protection Administration on October 24th.
