Photo: Twitter / @PKJugnauth Cardinal Maurice Piat of Port-Louis, Mauritius, has praised public responses to an oil spill that devastated the island’s coastline, as one prominent lay Catholic demanded “honest information” about the disaster.
“Numerous families are afflicted by a pestilential and persistent odor – fishermen and all those living from the sea are suffering particularly, while ecological treasures in our coastal bays and islets are gravely damaged,” said Cardinal Piat.
“Amid the pain shared by so many, I salute the beautiful outpouring of active and enterprising solidarity now showing itself in a bid to save what might still be saved.”
The 79-year-old cardinal issued the message as desperate efforts continued to contain oil from the Japanese bulk carrier, MV Wakashio, which ran aground on a coral reef off Pointe d’Esny.
Martine Lajoie, assistant chief editor of the church’s La Vie Catholique weekly, told Catholic News Service: “This ship ran aground in the worst possible place…it’s an ecological catastrophe. But Mauritius is facing another crisis as well, when those running the country are not trusted.”