Castel Gandolfo (Italy), Aug 18 (DPA) Pope Benedict XVI Wednesday urged the international community to show solidarity towards the victims of floods in Pakistan by providing ‘concrete support’.
‘As I entrust to the merciful goodness of God those who have passed away so tragically, I express my spiritual closeness to their relatives and to all those who suffer as a result of this calamity,’ the Pope said during his regular mid-week general audience.
‘Our solidarity and the concrete support of the international community towards our brothers should not be lacking,’ said the Pope from his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, a town south of Rome.
The global response to the crisis has been criticized for being slow, amid concerns from some aid donors that the funds might be embezzled by corrupt officials or might find their way to Islamic extremists.
The UN said Wednesday that it had secured less than half of the $460 million it required in emergency assistance.
Some 20 million people have been displaced and more than 1,400 people have been killed by the floods.
