Pope Francis urges support for earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria

Pope Francis prayed Sunday for the people of Turkey and Syria who are suffering after devastating earthquakes killed more than 28,000 people.

“Dear brothers and sisters, let us continue to be close with prayer and concrete support to the earthquake victims in Syria and Turkey,” the pope said in his Angelus address on Feb. 12.

Speaking from the window of the Apostolic Palace, Pope Francis described how he was moved by the images of pain and suffering from the catastrophe that he saw on television and urged people to “pray and think of what we can do for them.”

The pope spoke as rescue efforts continued over the weekend with rescuers pulling more than a dozen survivors out of the rubble on Saturday, according to the Associated Press.

Among the survivors, a Syrian man who was trapped under rubble for nearly five days said that he survived by drinking dirty drips of water until he was rescued on Friday night.

The United Nations reports that millions have been left homeless after two back-to-back earthquakes on Feb. 6 led thousands of buildings to collapse in parts of Turkey and Syria.

Catholic charities are working to respond to the disaster by providing shelter, food, and other humanitarian aid.

According to the director of Caritas Syria, the earthquake heavily impacted northwest Syria where 4.1 million people were already in need of humanitarian assistance after more than a decade of civil war. The charity is opening shelters in Aleppo, Hama, and Lattakia to help protect those who lost their homes from the cold and the snow.