Panaji, Jun 25 (IANS): Priests at Goa's churches will appeal for donations during Sunday mass for relief and rehabilitation work in Uttarakhand, where floods have caused havoc, leaving hundreds of people dead and several thousand stranded.

Goa Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao in a statement Tuesday said a circular has been issued to pastors as well as heads of Catholic institutions to start the donation drive for aiding Uttarakhand's victims.

"We call upon our pastors as well as superiors of educational and other religious institutions to announce the contents of this circular at Sunday masses and regular meetings and thus enable everyone to take part in this drive of the Church in Goa to bring relief to our suffering brethren in Uttarakhand," Ferrao said.

Expressing sorrow for the lives lost and those put to discomfort due to the flooding, Ferrao said: "It is very painful to know that thousands of pilgrims add up to the number of those who have been trapped or just washed away".

Ferrao also said that the Church in Goa has been "following this calamity with deep consternation and grief and expresses its solidarity and sympathy with the thousands of people who have lost their family members, homes and other enterprises".