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News, of the hour, on the hour, from Catholic Information Radio.
I’m Bryan Douglas in Philadelphia, and at this hour….
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Lead:
As Chile's Catholic Church coordinated aid to victims of the massive earthquake that struck the country's central coast on Feb. 27, church leaders expressed their condolences to families of the more than 700 people killed.

After praying the Angelus on Sunday,, Pope Benedict XVI said quote "I am praying for the victims and am spiritually close to those affected by this serious catastrophe. For them, I ask God to grant relief of suffering and courage in this adversity” unquote.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet declared the southern regions a disaster area, ordered the army to reinforce the police, and imposed a nighttime curfew on the region to halt looting of stores. She also asked other countries to assist with field hospitals, water purification, communications equipment, and generators.

Telephone communication with Chile still was difficult today, and Chileans abroad struggled to contact relatives. Much of the disaster area and even some communities around the capital city of Santiago are still without electricity.

The magnitude 8.8 quake, one of the eight strongest on record, struck at 3:34 a.m. local time Feb. 27. Over the next two days, more than 115 aftershocks measuring more than 5.0 were recorded, nine of them registering more than 6.0. The strongest earthquake on record, which measured 9.5, struck the same area in 1960.

I’ll be back with more after this.
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Story 2:
Syrian Catholic Archbishop Basile Casmoussa of Mosul led over 1,000 Iraqi Catholics in a silent protest on February 28 to demand that the government act to put a stop to violence against Christians there. The United Nations has estimated that over 680 Christians fled Mosul in the last week. In Kirkuk, Chaldean Archbishop Louis Sako led another prayer rally, and warned against the "Nineveh Plains plain” which is a proposal to gather Christians into a single location in the Nineveh region. He called for Christians to be united in opposition to that proposal because the archbishop said, Catholic leaders have generally agreed that a Christian enclave in Iraq would be vulnerable to organized mob attacks.

Story 3:
Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha of Lahore has denounced government indifference to the persecution of Christians, Hindus, and Sikhs in Pakistan, an indifference that has allowed the Taliban to impose a tax on non-Muslims in certain areas.

Lamenting the frequent incidents of violence and crime posing grave threat to the life, liberty, and property of the members of religious minorities in the country, Archbishop Saldanha said that “the government should protect the religious minorities on priority, as they happen to be one of the most vulnerable groups to social and organized crimes.”

Story 4:
The Portuguese bishops have announced details of Pope Benedict’s May pilgrimage to their nation of 10.6 million. Capacity crowds of 150,000 and 250,000 respectively may attend open-air Masses in the capital city of Lisbon and in the northwestern city of Porto. The Pontiff will also visit Fatima, where 600,000 attended a Mass offered by Pope John Paul II in 2000.

“With You, We Walk in Hope: Christianity, and Mission” is the theme of the visit. 88% of the population is Catholic.

This is Catholic Information News.

Story 5:
Returning from a conference in South Africa, the president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications has lauded the Church in India’s use of new technologies. Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli emphasized that such technologies should not be used for propaganda and proselytism, but rather should be used to communicate the joy of the Christian message to a world marked by loneliness, in accord with the writings of St. Paul

Story 6:
On the occasion of the 70th birthday of the Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, Benedict XVI sent him a telegram to wish him well on his birthday. The Holy Father's message recalls the "pleasant memories" of his meetings with the Patriarch, referring above all to his visit to Fanar for the feast of St. Andrew in 2006. The telegram concluded quote, "I exchange with Your Holiness a holy embrace, expressing my hope in faith that the Spirit of God continue to enlighten and guide our path toward the full communion desired by Christ for all of his disciples” unquote

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And that’s top news of the hour.
I’m Bryan Douglas, CIR NEWS, for Catholic Information Radio.