Pope has no answers for Japanese girl on disaster

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Pope Benedict XVI on Friday said he had 'no answers' for a traumatised seven-year-old Japanese girl asking about the earthquake and tsunami in an unprecedented interview on Italian television.

"I also have the same questions: why is it this way? Why do you have to suffer so much while others live in ease? And we do not have the answers," the pope said in response to her question: "Why do I have to be so afraid?"

"Be assured, we are with you, with all the Japanese children who are suffering. We want to help you with our prayers, with our actions, and you can be sure that God will help you," the 84-year-old pontiff said.

In a letter to the head of the Japanese Catholic bishops conference, the pope last month said he was 'deeply saddened' by the disaster in Japan.

In a prayer last month the pope hailed 'the courageous Japanese people'.

Japan is predominantly Shintoist and Buddhist, with only 1.5 per cent of the total population, or less than two million people, Christians. Less than half a million are Catholic.