Sunday 1st December
At the November Bishops' Conference in Leeds it was agreed that one of us should go to the Philippines after typhoon Haiyan, to show solidarity and represent in some way 120,000 Filipinos in the U.K. feeling the grief of their homeland. We owe a great debt to them in our society and we must stand with them now, as is happening both within the Catholic community and among many who have given to the disaster appeal. The U.K. is so generous in its humanitarian response.
CAFOD was among the very first to respond to the destruction; and with partners in the Philippines and their network of contacts was best placed to organise the itinerary. Matthew Carter, Humanitarian Director, is with me on the trip and we are joined by Jim Murphy MP, who has come directly from being caught up in the tragedy of the Glasgow helicopter crash. He was involved in helping to bring the injured out of the pub, and after such an incident he is generous to be making this journey.
