Australias churches open doors to wildfire mourners

Mourners packed churches across Australia on Sunday for services to remember victims of recent deadly wildfires.

More than 180 people died in the blazes that swept across Victoria state on February 7. Some 400 separate blazes destroyed around 1,800 homes in the worst fires to ever hit Australia.

The Archbishop of state capital Melbourne, Dr Philip Freier, led services at a church in the town of Whittlesea, around 60 miles northeast of Melbourne.

"I met people who said that even if they weren't used to praying, they prayed, when there was this pressure ... upon them, words came from deep inside from their deepest need to God, and they knew they were not just words," he told the congregation.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd also joined services in Victoria.

Churches have mobilised their congregations since the start of the disaster to offer practical care and spiritual support for victims and emergency crew.

In the days immediately following the outbreak of the fires, the Archbishop of Sydney Dr Peter Jensen sent out an urgent appeal to churches to pray and offer practical help to victims.

“The scale of the tragedy is horrifying. When part of our community suffers, all suffer with them,” said Dr Jensen in a statement. “We need to be generous in care, gifts and prayer in order to express our oneness with those in grief.”