BANGKOK, Thailand — Pope Francis’ envoy to the meeting of bishops in Asia expressed his solidarity with the stampede victims in South Korea as well as those affected by a storm in the Philippines.
Speaking during Mass at the Bangkok Cathedral on Sunday, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle turned his thoughts to the deadly stampede in Seoul and the storm that unleashed floods and landslides in several Philippine provinces.
At least 151 people were killed when a huge Halloween party crowd surged into a narrow alley on Oct. 29.
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“We pray in a particular way for the victims of the stampede that happened in Korea yesterday,” Cardinal Tagle said at the start of his homily.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has declared a period of national mourning following the Saturday night disaster that also injured 150 others.
In the Philippines, authorities reported at least 45 deaths so far and millions of damage due to severe Tropical Storm Nalgae, also locally dubbed Paeng.
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“We also pray for those who have been affected,” the cardinal said.
The cardinal, who is also the pro-prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization, was in Bangkok as pope’s special envoy for the closing Mass of the FABC general conference.
More than 200 cardinals and bishops from 17 episcopal conferences and two synods of oriental churches in Asia attended the 19-day assembly that also marked the FABC’s 50-year history.
