Displaced persons from Myanmar’s Rakhine State cluster around a food distribution truck in Kutapalong camp, southern Bangladesh. Photo: TOMMY TRENCHARD (CARITAS INTERNATIONALIS)

Caritas Humanitarian Aid & Relief Initiatives, Singapore (CHARIS) has pledged 40,000 euros (S$63,000) to its partner, Caritas Bangladesh, in response to the influx of displaced communities which have fled into Bangladesh due to the conflict in Myanmar’s Rakhine State.

The funds will be used immediately to provide food, clean drinking water, hygiene kits, blankets and other necessary items as relief support for these displaced communities, said CHARIS, the overseas humanitarian arm of the Catholic Church in Singapore, in a press release.

In collaboration with the Food Security Cluster (FSC), International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the local government, Caritas Bangladesh aims to reach more than 70,000 people currently settled in the coastal city of Cox’s Bazar.
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The annual fundraising launch is set for Oct 7 and 8


People reach to get ice cream at an evacuation centre outside Marawi, Philippines. CHARIS is appealing for funds to support organisations undertaking disaster relief and humanitarian work. CNS photo

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The protracted crisis in Marawi, Philippines, has resulted in more than 360,000 people being displaced from their homes.

They need food and shelter. Their children need nutrition and education. In the drawn-out refugee situation along the Thai-Myanmar border, nine refugee camps are currently home to more than 103,000 refugees who have fled conflicts in Myanmar in search for safety.

In Nepal, two years since the devastating earthquake, more than 46,000 homes have been rebuilt. However, over 115,000 families are still reconstructing their homes and lives. The earthquake took place in April 2015, but the rebuilding takes several years and are still ongoing.
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Music, dance and sharings were some new evangelisation activities held recently


Seminarian Nicholas Lye (back row, fourth from right) and his team of dancers put on a ‘prayerformance’ at the cathedral on Sept 30.

Hundreds took part in a special programme titled Love in the City, a series of four events focusing on God’s love and held in the City District on Sept 30.

According to Fr Terence Pereira, Episcopal Vicar for the New Evangelisation, the programme was organised “so that non-Catholics and those who have drifted away from the faith will be excited and desire to know more about Jesus
Christ”.

At the Love is the Language event held at The Catholic Centre on Waterloo Street, participants viewed works of art based on scriptural verses on love and spoke to the artists themselves to understand their inspirations.
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The Courage SG website with a message from Archbishop Goh.

By Jared Ng

Courage Singapore, a support ministry for persons with same-sex attraction (SSA), was officially launched during a symposium on Sept 30.

The event, held at the Catholic Archdiocesan Education Centre, also saw the launch of EnCourage, a ministry that supports parents, spouses and loved ones of persons with SSA or who identify as LGBT.

In announcing the launch, Fr Adrian Danker, spiritual director of Courage, said the ministry hopes to support persons with SSA by finding holiness through chastity. This is the call to chastity the Church makes to all in whatever situation they live in, whether single, celibate, married or those with SSA. Chastity is for everyone.
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