Franciscan friars join rescue operations in flood-struck Indonesia

By Vatican News 

In Indonesia alone, at least 800 people are dead and over 550 are still missing after a tropical cyclone caused floods and landslides across the provinces of West Sumatra, North Sumatra and Aceh.

The death toll is expected to rise as rescuers struggle to reach remote villages. At least a million others are displaced.

Speaking to Fides News Agency, the Provincial Superior of the Capuchin Friars in Sibolga in northern Sumatra said that entire villages have been swept away.

“Many people are homeless”, Friar Yoseph Norbert Sinaga said, “Rescue teams are now trying to reach the displaced” but some areas remain isolated.

The Capuchin Friars of Sibolga mobilised all their resources after Tropical Cyclone Senyar brought torrential rains, floods, and landslides to the nation and beyond

They are evacuating people, providing aid, and accompanying the displaced throughout the territory of their diocese.

Now, Friar Sinaga explains,“We are suffering from the lack of water and electricity, but above all, the lack of drinking water is a serious problem.”

The Franciscan fraternity established itself in the area more than 100 years ago. Today, it counts some 65 professed friars and more than 30 novices bearing witness in a territory where the majority is Muslim.

In the current crisis, they have opened the doors of the monastery and are sheltering over 200 vulnerable displaced persons in the Novitiate. They have also launched an appeal for solidarity to all the Franciscan communities in Indonesia who are responding with compassion and promptness.

“Now our brothers and sisters need immediate help, says Friar Sinaga,  Later, we will also try to help rebuild their homes.”