A Catholic Pat Robertson? Fr Wagner and Haiti

Where American Evangelicals have Pat Robertson who blames earthquakes, hurricanes et al on Divine displeasure, European Catholics have Fr Gerhard Wagner, (the-man-who-was-almost-auxiliary-bishop-of-Linz).

After last month’s terrifying earthquake devastated Haiti and killed over 150000 people, Mr Robertson said the country was cursed for having entered into a pact with the Devil. Fr Wagner first caught the international media’s attention in January last year when he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Linz, for suggesting that it was no coincidence that Hurricane Katrina destroyed five abortion clinics and countless nightclubs. This Sunday he told the Austrian weekly Der Kurier that while he couldn’t judge whether the Haitian earthquake was an act of a vengeful God, but that it was interesting to note that 90 per cent of Haitians practice voodo.

Order of Malta in Haiti

From the Foreign Service of the Order of Malt:

Thousands of people are believed dead and three million people are affected.  In what is the poorest country of the western hemisphere, the ability to help themselves is very limited.  Hospitals are overflowing, and the administration is struggling to cope.

The Order of Malta has been active in Haiti for 15 years, both through initiatives of its embassy, and by supporting a hospital in the north of the country. However, its current staff do not have the resources to address this magnitude of need.

Malteser International is preparing the deployment of an international medical team consisting of doctors and other medics to support our people on the ground.  Long years of experience mean we know that the first priorities are basic medical care and the provision of clean drinking water, to keep people safe and healthy in these horrendous circumstances

We are in great need of money to fund this work, so please consider donating to this very urgent and worthwhile cause.  Your money will go directly to help those who have lost everything.

You can donate online through our website ( http://www..justgiving.com/fas <http://www.justgiving.com/fas&gt; ), or by sending a cheque made payable to BASMOM Foreign Aid Service (see attached form).

We thank you for any donation you can make.
Nicolas Reuttner, The Foreign Aid Service