SW News: The Holy See’s Prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity Cardinal Konrad Krajewski visited the flood-hit town of Casamicciola Terme on Italy’s Ischia island in the Gulf of Naples on December 8. Floods wreaked havoc on the island on November 26 claiming 12 lives and displacing hundreds of people.

On Wednesday, the residents of the town observed a Day of Mourning as the funeral of the victims was held that day. Cardinal Krajewski said he was sharing the sorrow, adding that pain cannot be taken away. “However, it can be borne together,” he said.

The cardinal told believers that his visit on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception had a special significance. “In the faces of grandmothers, aunts and women, I saw the ordeal of Mary who lost her son, who accompanied Him until His last breath". He also visited the relatives of Valentina Castagna and Gianluca Monti, the parents of Michele, Francesco and Maria Teresa who perished in the landslide.

In a statement, the Cardinal said Pope Francis expresses grief over the tragedy. He will also gift a rosary blessed by the Pope to each family. By this gesture, “they may feel the comfort of His prayer and entrust themselves with hope to the Virgin Mother.”

This is not the first time the cardinal is visiting the island. When a violent tremor killed two and displaced 2,500 people on the island in December 2015, the cardinal had paid a visit consoling the victims and bringing the pope’s closeness.

When it comes to the Vatican’s relief service in war zones and disaster epicenters, Cardinal Krajewski has been at the vanguard of the operations. He made more than one visit to Ukraine taking essential supplies and ambulances, which he himself drove, as a tangible sign of the Christian charity of the Holy Father.