QUEZON CITY, Philippines (CNS) --- As government officials try to assess and address the damage of Typhoon Durian, Pope Benedict XVI has sent a message of encouragement to victims and rescue workers in the Philippines. "His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI assures all affected of his closeness in prayer," said a Dec. 4 message from the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. "His Holiness likewise prays for the rescue workers and all involved in providing practical assistance to the victims of this disaster, encouraging them to persevere in their efforts to bring relief and support."

More than 1.09 million people in 13 provinces were affected by the typhoon that hit the country Nov. 30, reported the Philippine National Disaster Coordinating Council. Tens of thousands of houses were destroyed, 425 people were listed as dead, 507 injured and 599 missing. Nearly 23,000 people have sought refuge in 129 evacuation centers. Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has declared a state of national calamity and ordered the release of money for relief and rehabilitation efforts in areas struck by Durian and the typhoons that preceded it.

In the Albay province, southeast of Manila, Durian triggered mudslides on Mount Mayon, a volcano that recently has been restive. About 1,000 people are feared trapped in rocks and sludge that buried houses and fields around Mount Mayon. Reports to officials of the Legazpi Diocese confirmed 111 deaths in Daraga alone, but Father Rolando Panesa, the diocese's financial administrator, expects the figure to rise.

Priestly celibacy: Not up for debate
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- The new head of the Vatican's Congregation for Clergy, Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes, clarified his recent comments about priestly celibacy, saying the question was not currently up for discussion by church authorities. In a Brazilian newspaper interview Dec. 2, Cardinal Hummes had said priestly celibacy was a disciplinary norm and not a church dogma, and was therefore open to possible change. Although Cardinal Hummes was not arguing in favor of modifying the celibacy rule, his comments stirred considerable interest in Rome. Shortly after arriving at the Vatican from Brazil Dec. 4, the cardinal issued a statement emphasizing that priestly celibacy was a long and valuable tradition in the Latin-rite church, based on strong theological and pastoral arguments. Cardinal Hummes, a Franciscan who has headed the Archdiocese of Sao Paolo, was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI in October as prefect of the clergy congregation, a move widely seen as bringing a moderate Latin American voice to the Roman Curia.

Vatican statement: Pope saddened by illicit Chinese ordinations
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- Pope Benedict XVI was deeply saddened by the Nov. 30 ordination of a Chinese bishop without Vatican approval, an act that can further fracture the Catholic community in mainland China, said a statement from the Vatican. In a Dec. 2 statement, the Vatican said officials found out at "the last minute" about plans to ordain Father Wang Renlei, 36, as coadjutor bishop of Xuzhou, China, at the diocese's Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral. Still, Vatican officials did what they could "so that this act, which would have produced a new laceration in the ecclesial community, would not come about," the statement said. "In fact, an illegitimate episcopal ordination is an act that is so objectively serious that canon law establishes severe sanctions for those who confer it and those who receive it," the statement said. The new bishop and the bishops who ordained him face automatic excommunication if they acted of their own free will, the Vatican said.