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Pope Francis and local Church leaders on Monday reacted with dismay and calls for prayer following a devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria. According to Reuters, the series of earthquakes — up to 7.8 magnitude — killed about 5,400 people and injured thousands more, with many people still trapped under the rubble. A “deeply saddened” Pope Francis sent “heartfelt condolences to those who mourn their loss” in telegrams addressed to the apostolic nuncios of Turkey and Syria. Among the many victims, the body of Father Imad Daher, a priest of the Greek Melkite Catholic Parish of Our Lady, was found under the rubble — after many hours of searching for the priest.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253564/pope-francis-syriac-patriarch-call-for-prayers-after-devastating-earthquakes-in-turkey-and-syria
A crowd of military veterans, their families, and Boy Scouts filled a New Jersey parish church on Sunday to honor the “Four Chaplains” — a band of men of different faiths who all sacrificed their lives to save others on the torpedoed USAT Dorchester 80 years ago. The Four Chaplains — Father John P Washington, a Catholic priest; Reverend George L Fox, a Methodist minister; Rabbi Alexander D Goode; and Reverend Clark V Poling, a Reformed Church in America minister — gave their life jackets to save others when their ship was torpedoed in the frigid North Atlantic in 1943. The Mass commemorating the 80th anniversary of the chaplains’ sacrifice took place at St. Stephen’s Church in Kearney, New Jersey — the last parish where Washington served before being dispatched for war. Washington, Fox, Goode, and Poling, all first lieutenants, met in 1942, having been inspired to sign up as military chaplains after Pearl Harbor. Their vessel, the Dorchester, a troop ship bound for a US military base in Greenland, was struck by a U-boat torpedo in the early morning hours of February 3, 1943. Washington had celebrated Mass just hours before the hit and began to offer absolution. The chaplains calmly assisted and encouraged numerous civilians and soldiers, offering them their own life jackets as the terrified crowd sped to the lifeboats. In 1944, all four men posthumously received the Distinguished Service Cross and Purple Heart.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253569/the-four-chaplains-selfless-heroes-of-wwii-honored-for-sacrifice-80-years-ago
Today, the Church celebrates Saint Richard, the father of Saints Willibald, Winnebald, and Walburga.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-richard-140