POPE GIVES $100,000 TO AID FLOOD VICTIMS IN VIETNAM

VATICAN CITY, NOV 24, 1999 (VIS) - Pope John Paul has sent $100,000 to help the populations of central Vietnam which have been struck by severe flooding in the past three months, according to a communique released today by the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum."

Archbishop Paul Cordes, council president, gave the money yesterday to Archbishop Jean Baptiste Pham Minh Man of Hochiminhville who is currently in Italy. The Holy Father had already donated $37,000 in September to the flood victims. The money will be distributed to the bishops of the seven most heavily stricken provinces and will serve to acquire essential items such as food, water, blankets and medicines and to assist in rebuilding infrastructures damaged by the floods.

"There is much misery in the world," said Archbishop Cordes in the communique, "but this gesture shows how very close the population of Vietnam is to the Holy Father's heart. His Holiness has been waiting for some time to visit that country and was very saddened by the destruction of schools, churches, dispensaries and homes in one of the poorest areas of Vietnam."

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