As the Pope said the Catholic church would respond and Catholic aid agency CAFOD pledged money to the relief effort this afternoon, it emerged that the Catholic archbishop of Port-au-Prince had been killed in the Haiti earthquake.

The Christian Aid office in Haiti has collapsed and three people have had to be rescued from the rubble, following the country's devastating earthquake. Communications to the country remain very difficult as the relief effort gets underway.

Action of Churches Together (ACT) member churches are already involved in responding to the Haiti disaster. World Council of Churches General Secretary, Olav Fykse Tveit, has expressed condolences and solidarity with the people there.

UK-based international development agency Christian Aid, along with and the Jubilee Debt Campaign, have welcomed the Swiss government’s decision to hand over approximately $6 million to Haiti.