When the churches collapsed during Indonesia's earthquake, Catholics offered aid from tents.

In Baciro, the parish council met under a tent in the rectory compound after the May 27 quake that left more than 5,400 people dead and destroyed 45,000 buildings --- including the Baciro church --- in Yogyakarta and Central Java.

Father Sari Jatmiko told UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand, that he told parish council members not to focus on their destroyed church.

"We will discuss and handle it later. Now, the most important thing is how to assist the parishioners and other people who lost their houses. They need logistical help and medicines as soon as possible," he said.

The Indonesian government estimated 200,000 people were homeless after the quake.

The parish priest of Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Ganjuran, members of its parish pastoral council and other parishioners were among those channeling aid to people affected by the disaster. Their church was among the buildings destroyed, and four people were killed when it collapsed. Only its tower remained intact, UCA News reported.

The church is located in the Bantul district, the worst-hit area, where more than 3,800 people were killed and 80 percent of the homes were flattened, according to information available May 29.

Yohanes Agus Prayitno, a Ganjuran parish activist, told UCA News May 28 that he was "focusing on how to distribute aid, especially cooked food, to the survivors." He said 30 parishioners had been busy distributing food and erecting emergency tents in the hospital compound next to the destroyed church.

"What we can do is to distribute aid to the survivors, while the medical workers provide them with medical assistance," he added.

The Ganjuran church is a popular shrine, and Archbishop Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo of Semarang visited it several hours after the quake and again the following day with staff of Caritas and the crisis center of the Indonesian bishops' conference. The Semarang Archdiocese, based in Central Java, also covers the city of Yogyakarta, about 55 miles to the south.

In Kalasan, the Marganingsih Catholic Church also was destroyed. Stefanus Sunaryo, vice chairman of the parish council, told UCA News, "We erected tents to house the survivors who could not be accommodated in the hospitals, and women (from the church) cooked for them."

Sunaryo said he did not know where the parish women got food such as rice and instant noodles. "It was as if the food just appeared. We do not have time to register the donors," he said.

Father Antonius Jarot Kusno Priyono, parish priest of the Ganjuran church, said 40 out of the 500 villagers of the predominantly Catholic hamlet of Caben were killed. Ninety percent of the houses there were totally destroyed, he said.

"We do not know how many Catholics from my parish were killed by the quake. Maybe I will have the exact number after a week," he said.

He said the deaths were not reported to the priests for funeral rites, "since all the three priests of the parish were busy attending to the destroyed church and coordinating aid for victims."

With many parishes having lost members to the quake, Sunday Masses May 28 were somber affairs in area churches.

Many parishioners of the Marganingsih Church of Kalasan, just northeast of Yogyakarta, had eyes swollen from weeping. Only about 100 parishioners attended; usually about 1,000 people attend Mass in the church, UCA News reported.

Pope Benedict XVI, visiting Poland when the quake struck, expressed his condolences for the victims and offered encouragement to relief workers.

The pope was deeply saddened at the loss of life and was praying for the victims and their grieving families, said a telegram sent May 27 in the pope's name by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state.

The telegram said the pope "encourages the rescue workers and all involved in providing medical assistance to the victims of this disaster, to persevere in their efforts to bring relief and support."

Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops' international relief and development agency, and its Canadian counterpart, Development and Peace, were providing aid to survivors in the form of food, first aid and shelter, working with the Caritas Catholic aid network.

---CNS