The Diocese of Stockton Reaches Out to Hurricane Victims

Bishop Blaire has called on local parishes to have special collections three weeks in a row in order to assist hurricane victims. The unprecedented collections over three weekends are necessary because, "...most of the work is yet to come assisting in the long range rebuilding of lives and infrastructures." (The full text of Bishop Blaire's statement is below)

We are sending donations to Catholic Charities, USA, which has a well-developed network and a long track record of offering effective help to victims. Catholic Charities, Diocese of Stockton, is setting up ways to respond locally as we are asked for further assistance.

Anyone wishing to donate may send checks, marked "Hurricane Relief" to the Chancery Office: 1105 North Lincoln Street, Stockton, CA 95203.

NO WAY OUT

This past week has been overwhelming for us as we saw the devastating effects of KATRINA and people suffering to their limits, especially the poor - the poor who had no means to evacuate and no one offered them a way out. It will take a lot of prayer and reflection to sort out the implications of the results and responses to KATRINA. Quick judgments, recriminations, and brutal accusations will not give the light needed which can only come from sober, prayerful reflection. We saw angry people driven to desperation, dazed from lack of food and water; we saw an aged nun on a cot in the airport gently and peacefully calling for Jesus to take her home; we saw criminals claiming the streets; we saw people stranded on roofs holding each other up anxiously awaiting rescue; we saw an elderly, sick man being rolled across the front of the convention center in a shopping cart; we saw selfless nurses and doctors staying on their jobs. We saw so much, but we did not experience the suffering and desperation directly. But a part of us is there: we are a human family; we are the people of our nation; our hearts are there; and what we can share of our own wealth or own service goes there.

The Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and a plethora of civic and religious organizations, including Catholic Charities have been on the front line. But most of the work is yet to come assisting in the long range rebuilding of lives and infrastructures.

I am overawed by the generosity of the American people. But I am troubled by the poverty of those who had little and now have nothing. I am shocked and disturbed by the criminals in the streets. Yes, we will look to better ways to co-ordinate the logistics of response in a national disaster; but I hope we will take a new and more serious look at the widening gap of wealth between the rich and the poor; at the breakdown of family life; at inadequate education and low paying jobs; at mental illness; at substandard housing; at the devastating effects of drug and alcohol abuse; at all the causes and effects of poverty.

KATRINA has left so many people devastated; it has taken numerous lives; for some it has called forth the worst in human behavior; but for so many more it has brought out the best in human generosity and compassion. I hope it will be the occasion for a fresh perspective on how we live as a nation and what it means to be a people and where we put our resources. Will the poor find a way out?

Last Update February 28, 2007