By Tracy Early
Catholic News Service

UNITED NATIONS (CNS) -- The Vatican nuncio to the United Nations reported Jan. 19 that Catholic agencies were devoting nearly $500 million to victims of the tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean.

Addressing a special session of the General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, Archbishop Celestino Migliore said these efforts were being carried out in cooperation with the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum," and were devoted to both emergency relief and longer-term projects.

Pope John Paul II has committed Catholic agencies "to act in a genuine gesture of solidarity to all people without exception in each nation touched by this enormous tragedy," he told the U.N. diplomats.

The archbishop spoke at a session designed to focus attention on both the immediate problems created by the earthquake and tsunamis and the broader issue of strengthening the ability of the international community to provide effective, coordinated responses to future disasters.

In addition to reporting on Catholic efforts, Archbishop Migliore commended the response to the disaster by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and U.N. agencies.

"It now falls to the United Nations to become once again a great driving force, dedicated, courageous and humanitarian, as in the best moments of its history," he said.

Archbishop Migliore said young children were the "most affected" of the tsunami victims, and tens of thousands were left orphans, in addition to 50,000 or more who were "swept away." Overall, more than 212,000 people have died and thousands more are still missing.

Catholic agencies are placing special emphasis on "ways to bring help to surviving children in the zones worst affected," he said.

Noting the quick response to the tragedy from so many quarters, the nuncio called it "a sign of the fundamental decency of the peoples of the world."

"It is clear that there exists -- regardless of the things that separate us -- a deep sense of our shared humanity and fragility in the face of such terrible events," he added.

Archbishop Migliore said the nations of the world should build on the humanitarian impulses evoked by the tsunami to build support for a "broader agenda."

"There is now a sense of humanitarian momentum, and we should not let it slip by," he said.

Archbishop Migliore expressed hope that "the solidarity of private citizens and governments alike" would not diminish after the world recovered from the shock caused by the earthquake and tsunamis, the world's worst disaster in decades.