VIENTIANE (UCAN) -- Catholics of the cathedral parish in Vientiane joined a government-sponsored interreligious service for people affected by the disaster that has claimed more than 170,000 lives in South and Southeast Asian countries.

A group of Catholics representing young people, women, the elderly, catechists and Religious participated in the interreligious service, held Jan. 9 at the Lao Evangelical Church in the capital, according to Oblate Bishop Jean Khamse Vithavong, vicar apostolic of Vientiane.

The bishop told UCA News Jan. 18 that since news broke about the tsunami tragedy, which reports now say left 190,000 or more people dead or missing and 5 million homeless in the Indian Ocean region, he has appealed to Catholics to pray for those who lost their lives. He also asked them to contribute as much as they could to the government's fund-raising campaign for survivors.

Sisavad Keobounphan, head of the Lao Front for National Construction, a unit of the ruling Lao People's Revolutionary Party, addressed about 200 participants at the Jan. 9 prayer service. "Although we are not affected by the tsunami, we are very sad over what happened to our neighbors, and we should do something to help them since we are living on the same planet," he said.

Neighboring Thailand, the destination of choice for more than 80 percent of Lao migrants, according to the International Labor Organization, is one of the four hardest-hit countries. More than 5,300 fatalities have been confirmed there with a few thousand people still missing. It is estimated that of the more than 600,000 illegal foreign workers said to be in Thailand, some 150,000 are from Laos.

Sisavad said the objective of the interreligious service was to receive and offer donations to the people affected by the disaster. "As the organizer of this campaign, I am very happy to see many of you are so kind and generous in helping the helpless," the official added.

He said he expected the donations offered at the meeting to reach 15 million kip (US$2,011), but they surpassed 30 million kip.

Sisavad and other government officials were present as Bahai, Buddhist, Catholic, Muslim and Protestant representatives offered prayers according to their respective religions. Each was allowed five minutes.

Vien Keosavang, a member of the cathedral youth group, said the group organized a service for it members to pray for the tsunami survivors. "We watched the news from Thailand everyday on television during the first week or so," said Vien, 21. Thai TV broadcasts reach into Laos.

"During Christmas and New Year, the members often saw each other, and their conversation always included discussion of the emerging number of casualties being reported on television," she said. In school, the teachers also talked about the tragedy, Vien added.

"The youth group's members donated as much as they could," according to Vien. She said they were moved when they saw how hard Thai people worked in order to respond to the needs of the tsunami survivors.

Indonesia suffered the greatest loss of life following the earthquake off the coast of its Aceh province, which sent huge waves that devastated coastal areas of Aceh and countries ranging from Malaysia to Somalia, eastern Africa. The death toll in Aceh alone stands at about 115,000, but officials there now say it is likely to reach 150,000. The next two-hardest-hit countries, Sri Lanka and India, are officially reporting about 40,000 and 10,000 fatalities, respectively. But as with Thailand, thousands are still reported as missing in each of these countries.

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