Father Sanu Puthussery delivered a thanksgiving speech at the prayer hall during Friday prayers last week.

He told the Muslim congregation that during the floods over 580 people sought refuge at the church where he was serving as the priest.

Within a day, the church ran out of food and water.

"I straightaway went to the Masjid (mosque), apprised the maulvi about our difficulty and requested his help. After the day's prayers, Muslim brothers came to the church with a large quantity of food and water," Puthussery said.

"I cannot express my gratitude to them in words. That much help and support they had extended during the time of difficulties."

Puthussery said the Muslim community continued bringing essential items to the relief camp at the church. Besides food and water, the youth attached to the mosque also arranged for medicines.

"I went to the Masjid to meet the maulvi and other authorities and thank them personally. But they invited me to their prayer hall and offered me their platform to speak..." he said.

Though the floods had snatched away many valuables from people, it also "washed away the walls of differences among them," Puthussery told this Muslim congregation.

"Pope Francis had said build bridges, not walls. The devastating floods have now given us an opportunity to destroy the walls and build the bridges of togetherness," he said.

Source

• The Times of India
• Hindustan Times
• Image: Moneycontrol

Incessant rains this month have caused the state's worst floods in a century. At least 186 people have died, over 200,000 families have taken refuge at relief camps and about 800,000 have been displaced.

Kerala is home to about 34.8 million people of whom about 10 per cent are Catholic.

Francis said the Church is working to bring help to the people of Kerala and urged the international community to offer concrete help to those affected by the floods.

Authorities fear an outbreak of disease among people crammed into relief camps.

In a statement, the Catholic bishops' conference of India said the Church was "already out in the field" through Caritas India.

All the 41 Catholic dioceses in Kerala have opened schools and other institutions to accommodate flood victims and are sending food, clothes and other relief materials to affected areas. Finding safe drinking water is a problem in many areas.

Bishops, sisters and lay volunteers are involved in relief operations. Regardless of religion or class, the bishops conference is appealing to all people of good will from across the country to help those affected by the floods.

Source

• United News of India
• Khaleej Times
• Crux Now
• Aljazeera
• Image: NDTV