News Briefs
Diocesan Press Service. February 8, 1966 [40-10]
AID FOR ALASKAN CATHEDRAL SENT
On Jan. 7 Presiding Bishop Hines sent a gift of $1, 000 from the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief and Interchurch Aid to Bishop Amvrossy in Sitka, Alaska.
The gift was to help rebuild St. Michael's Russian Orthodox Cathedral, the oldest in this country. The 118 year-old Cathedral was destroyed by fire on Jan. 2, together with a number of neighboring commercial buildings.
Although several of the ancient icons and other historic objects were saved, all could not be, including the iconostasis.
The Mayor of Sitka has called for contributions to rebuild the Cathedral because of its unique part in the history of Alaska, reminding people of the contribution of Russians to the settlement of the area.
HOMELESS IN RIO SENT ASSISTANCE
A gift of $2, 000 has been sent by the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief to the Igreja Episcopal do Brasil (Episcopal Church of Brazil) to assist that church in aiding the more than 500,000 persons left homeless in Rio de Janeiro.
Floods and landslides during the second week of January battered the favelas, or shantytown slums, on the hillsides and tidewater within Rio, and the death toll has been estimated at 405. All parts of the community responded in relief efforts, but the problem of urban slums remains to plague the government.
"The problems of the favelas is insoluble with present means," said Gov. Francisco Negrao de Lima of Guanabara State, which encompasses Rio.