Blackburn, UK, Aug 30, 2022 / 10:00 am
On Sunday, Aug. 28, Protestant and Catholic Church leaders across Pakistan appealed for help for flood victims in that country, where the government has declared a national emergency.
According to the National Disaster Management Authority, about one third of Pakistan is underwater. Residential areas are submerged and people have lost their homes, livestock, and belongings. While mostly rural areas have been affected, urban areas are also facing challenges — the infrastructure has been destroyed in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city.
More than 1,100 people have been killed, and more than 33 million people have been displaced or affected in some way since June. Pakistan’s Federal Flood Commission has declared the floods to be worse than those that affected the country in 2010.
Church leaders have appealed to local communities and the international community for help. Archbishop Joseph Arshad of Islamabad-Rawalpindi, president of the Pakistan Catholic Bishops’ Conference, appealed to the Christian community to show solidarity with their brothers and sisters who are suffering from the floods.