D.C. Area Catholics, Others Pray and Collect Relief for Tsunami Victims, Survivors

WASHINGTON - The earthquakes and tsunamis in South Asia were on the minds of D.C. Catholics during Sunday Masses.

Washington Catholic Archbishop Cardinal Theodore McCarrick celebrated a Mass at Saint Matthew's Cathedral in memory of those who died and for the millions who were left homeless.

Catholic churches across the area are taking up special collections for tsunami relief. McCarrick also asked Washington area Catholics to pray for relief workers.

The cardinal will visit the disaster-stricken region later this month to help with relief efforts. He will leave Monday on a previously scheduled trip to Africa, then continue to India and Sri Lanka on January 11.

McCarrick says his primary duty will be to inspire relief workers and to pray with victims. He'll also share what he saw and heard when he returns to the area, bringing further attention to the need for help in the region. Cardinal McCarrick will be traveling with Catholic Relief Services, which has pledged $25 million to the recovery effort.

Catholics aren't the only ones praying for the tsunami victims. Several members of the Washington area Sri Lankan community gathered at Our Lady of Mercy Church in Potomac today to pray for the victims and to continue coordinating relief efforts. Those attending the service say they hope their homeland can be rebuilt, although they realize it will be difficult. More than 28,000 people were killed in Sri Lanka alone, and more than a million are homeless.

The National Synagogue in Northwest D.C. also hosted a service for tsunami victims on Saturday, and an evening concert at the New Life Seventh Day Adventist Church in Gaithersburg became an impromptu relief campaign, with those attending asked to bring canned food, flats of bottled water and money donations.

On Sunday, there will be a prayer assembly in Beltsville, and another service in front of the Royal Thai Embassy in Northwest Washington.

WTOP's Veronica Robinson has more on Rizwan Mowlana's efforts.

GAITHERSBURG, Md. - Boxes jam the garage and driveway of a Gaithersburg man who lost over 40 relatives in Sri Lanka.

Rizwan Mowlana founded his own nonprofit group, Asia Relief, after the disaster to collect clothing, food and medical supplies. He says the outpouring of support from his neighbors is overwhelming.

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)