Church services held in typhoon-shattered city
Source: AP-Excite
By TODD PITMAN
TACLOBAN, Philippines (AP) - Hours after the storm hit the Philippines, the Rev. Amadero Alvero was on the streets, sprinkling holy water over the dead and praying for them. By late afternoon, the 44-year-priest had blessed about 50 corpses in the remains of this shattered city.
He then returned to his half-destroyed Santo Nino church and led Mass. On Sunday, Alvero was again overseeing worship at the peach-colored building, leading services for hundreds of survivors of one of the worst storms on record.
"Despite what happened, we still believe in God," he said. "The church may have been destroyed, but our faith is intact, as believers, as a people of God, our faith has not been destroyed."
Sun shone for the first service, but by the second, rain was falling through a gaping hole crisscrossed by wooden beams in the roof of the downtown church and landmark. Its windows were blown out, and winds now snap at a silver cross on top of its steeple, which hangs upside down.
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Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20131117/DAA43JA81.html
A Filipino man prays on a statue of Jesus Christ prior to a Mass at Santo Nino church, which was damaged by Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban, Philippines, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2013. Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful storms on record, hit the country's eastern seaboard Nov. 8, leaving a wide swath of destruction. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
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