The Christian Community in Pakistan has expressed its sorrow over the devastating earthquake that hit the country, and the northern regions of India, on Saturday, killing an estimated 33,000.

|PIC1|Churches across the country prayed on Sunday and Tuesday for the thousands killed in the tragedy, as well the many left injured, helpless and homeless.

“On behalf of the Christian community of Pakistan, I would like to express condolences and sympathies for victims of the catastrophic earthquake that has devastated the northern areas of Pakistan,” said Archbishop Lawrence J Saldanha, Archbishop of Lahore and President of the Pakistan Catholic Bishops Conference, in a letter to President General Pervez Musharraf Tuesday.

The Catholic bishops also donated Rs 500,000 to the President’s Relief Fund, reports Pakistan’s Daily Times. Saldanha told Musharraf in the letter: “I want to assure you that the Christian community stands by you in your relief operations.”

The bishops have also sent their own team of doctors and other social workers to Islamabad to help in relief efforts.

Archbishop Saldanha also expressed sorrow at the scale of the destruction to property and the enormous cost of human life in a public statement made Tuesday. He called the earthquake the greatest natural disaster in the country’s history and urged Christians to help in relief efforts and contribute a day’s salary to the President’s Relief Fund.

|TOP|This call was reiterated by Father Francis Nadeem of the National Council for Interfaith Dialogue, who appealed to the Christian community to step forward and help earthquake victims at this crucial time.

Executive Director of the Association for Communal Harmony in Asia (ACHA), Pritam K Rohila, described the devastation: “The massive earthquake has destroyed many villages and towns in India and Pakistan. More than 40,000 people are thought to have been killed while tens of thousands are still buried under the rubble of crumbled buildings.

“Destruction of roads, disruption of communications and rugged terrain, especially in some parts of Kashmir, have added to people’s misery,” said Rohila in a letter to Pakistan’s Daily Times.