As Sri Lanka (map) faces a national economic emergency, the nation’s bishops called on the government to offer relief for the poor.

“People are stranded … without basic needs such as food, fuel, and domestic and industrial gas,” the bishops said in a statement. “Patients are left in the lurch without the medicine needed to sustain their life. Parents are yearning to find milk food for infants and children.”

“The tragedy that has struck our nation is in no uncertain terms the worst of our times,” they added. “There should be a relief package to provide basic food items to the poorest of the poor. The unbridled rise in prices of basic necessities, shortages and hoarding seriously affect the day-to-day lives of people who are forced to stay in long queues.”