Pope Francis sent about US$114,000 in aid to victims of a super typhoon that devastated the Philippines in December.
The Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development said the money is intended to help relief efforts in the country.
Tropical cyclone Rai (local name: Odette) killed more than 400 people and has affected more than seven million others in December.
In a press statement on Tuesday, January 18, the dicastery said the funds would be sent to the worst-affected dioceses with help from the apostolic nunciature in the Philippines.
“It is intended to be an immediate expression of the Holy Father’s feeling of spiritual closeness and paternal encouragement towards the people and territories affected,” read the media statement.
“This contribution, which accompanies the prayer in support of the beloved Filipino population, is part of the aid that is being activated throughout the Catholic Church and that involves, in addition to various episcopal conferences, numerous charitable organizations,” it added.
The dicastery also announced that it is sending the same amount for migrants living in freezing winter conditions along the roughly 250-mile border separating Poland and Belarus.
It said that the money would also help Caritas Poland, the country’s biggest charitable organization, “to address the migratory emergency on the border between the two countries.”
The border crisis flared up last summer when thousands of people, largely from Middle Eastern countries, sought to enter the European Union by crossing the Belarus-Poland border.
