Nuns and Priests dug out dead at Aberfan

BY A STAFF REPORTER CATHOLICS, including nuns and priests, helped to dig out the dead and comfort the bereaved families of Aberfan after the disaster there last Friday. Of the 114 children and 31 adults, whose bodies had been found by Tuesday, ten were Catholics. There names are: MRS. GWYNETH COLLINS, RAYMOND JOHN COLLINS, PETER COLLINS, MICHAEL PATRICK COLLINS, ANNE CATHERINE LEE, DAVID WILLIAM WILLIAMS, SUSAN MARY CRO fly, SHARON LEWIS, ANNETTE HUGHES and ANTHONY WATKINS.
Another child, Christopher Gerlach, was in hospital with a fractured skull. Eight Catholic children were brought out unharmed from the rubble of the village school.
Several Catholic children from nearby Mount Pleasant who were pupils at the Aberfan school escaped because their bus was late. An Aberfan boy, Simon Rees, was sick at home. Some children had also stayed at home to go to the dentist. Anne Lee a pupil at the school, was saved by being pushed out of a window.
CONTINUOUS DUTY Catholic women of the parish (St. Benedict's, Merthyr Vale, whose church is at the Aberfan pit head) were on duty continuously. Irish Catholic workmen from a nearby building site left their jobs to clear away debris and search for the missing.
The entire teaching staff of the Catholic junior school at Merthyr Tydfil spent all Sunday helping. Members of the Catholic Young Men's Societies of Merthyr Tydfil, Dowlais and Merthyr Vale were constantly on hand.
Nuns from Llantarnan Abbey and the Ursuline Convent at Clydach went around to the homes of the bereaved, helping with housework and comforting the families.
The parish priest of St. Benedict's, Fr. P. Kerrisk, and his predecessor, Fr. J. Rohan, gave every help.
From Rome the Pope sent a telegram of sympathy to the Queen and the British Government, via the Apostolic Delegate in London, and to Archbishop Murphy of Cardiff, saying he was deeply grieved and promising his prayers.
At his regular blessing on Sunday he said: "How will we ever forget the unfortunate, who at Aberfan weep for their babies buried under the slide of slag coal? It is a misfortune that fills the heart with pain and they will be present in our prayers."
Archbishop Murphy promised the mayor of Merthyr Tydfil that all the Catholic churches in Wales would offer prayers. On Monday the Archbishop visited the Catholic families who had lost members in the disaster.
Throughout the country most Catholic churches offered prayers for the people of Aberfan at the bidding prayers during Sunday's Masses. Many priests in confession told penitents to oiler their penances for them.
Archbishop Murphy also received condolences from Cardinal Browne of the Curia in Rome and from Bishop Liston of Port Louis, Mauritius.