The Catholic Leader - 22 April

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Keeping Faith with You
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Queensland Price $2 / $2.50 Interstate April 22, 2018. Issue 5498
THE Leader Catholic
tragedy AND
MURDER IN PNG
They ran out first and got
buried by the
landslide. I was the
only one who survived.
This mother lost all seven of her children and her husband in an earthquake in
Papua New Guinea. UNICEF and Caritas are supporting women and children
to begin to cope with the emotional and physical trauma of the crisis
DEVASTATING tribal
violence has escalated
in the remote highlands
of Papua New Guinea,
hampering Catholic
relief efforts after
earthquakes destroyed
crops and displaced an
estimated 35,000
villagers.
The February 26 earth-
quake and aftershocks that
followed killed 125 people
and some of the region’s
most remote areas are still
cut off from assistance.
Tremors have continued
since the quake, causing
distress for already grief-
stricken families, while
heavy rain and landslides
have lashed the area.
Fighting has also claimed
at least seven lives in Hela
province, as aid agency
Caritas Australia and church
partners try to deliver food
and medicines to communi-
ties.
Prowling gangs have ter-
rorised towns killing people.
They have razed buildings
and forced families to flee.
The United Nations has
suspended relief efforts
after an attack on one of
its doctors, and several aid
agencies have pulled out.
Photo: UNICEF PNG/Thomas Nybo