After devastation of Typhoon Haiyan, Church moves in to construct 25 chapels and emergency shelters

The social service arm of the archdiocese of Manila is building 25 chapels in areas of the Philippines that were devastated by the super typhoon that passed through in 2013.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - "Church restoration is very important because it symbolizes our unity with the Lord, and it is where people gather," said Friar Anton Pascual, executive director of Caritas Manila.

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Pascual said the each of the $22,000 chapels, which will be built in the provinces of Samar and Leyte, will "not only for worship".

They will be built using thick steel and concrete so they can double as evacuation centers in future times of emergency. Pascual also said that the Church's rehabilitation efforts for those affected by November's Typhoon Haiyan are ongoing, and may take between three and five years.

Besides rebuilding structures, Pascual said Caritas Manila also provides "spiritual counseling" in conjunction with Catholic Relief Services, Caritas Internationalis, and local social action centers.

The National Secretariat for Social Action of the bishops' conference in July received roughly $12.5 million from Caritas Internationalis to fund various programs for Haiyan survivors.

Friar Edwin Gariguez, head of the social action secretariat, said that Palo archdiocese in Leyte is spearheading the construction of over 500 typhoon-resilient houses as part of the Church's rehabilitation program.

Last June, the social action secretariat received $5.6 million in new pledges, with with roughly half coming from the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, the official Catholic aid agency of England and Wales.

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