For Immediate Release

                                                                   Contact: Tom Allio, senior director

                                                                   Diocesan Social Action Office

                                                                   330-535-2787 or 216-281-3847

 

 

Cleveland Diocesan Social Action Office Calls for Fasting, Prayer and Action

In Solidarity with the People of the Sudan

 

          The Diocesan Social Action Office announced today that it is issuing an urgent call to the people of Northeast Ohio to fast, pray and take action regarding the genocide that is taking place in western Sudan in the region of Darfur.  “One concrete way that the people of Northeast Ohio can show compassion for and solidarity with the suffering people of the Sudan is to forego one meal and to donate the cost of that meal to Catholic Relief Services (CRS), said Tom Allio, senior director of the Diocesan Social Action.  CRS is currently on the ground in Sudan and providing humanitarian assistance in the way of food, water and shelter.”  Checks and donations can be made to Catholic Relief Services at P.O. 17220, Baltimore, Maryland 21298-9663, Attention: Sudan Crisis.

 

          The five Catholic Commissions of the Diocese of Cleveland are also urging immediate passage of the Comprehensive Sudan Peace Act, co-sponsored by Senators Michael DeWine (R-Ohio) and Joseph Biden (D-Delaware).  The bill was introduced on July 20, 2004 and authorizes $200 million in emergency food, shelter, and medical care for the more than one million Sudanese victims of Darfur.  The Senators have also called upon the United States and the international community to declare that the International Genocide Convention has been triggered and to take whatever appropriate steps are necessary to prevent and punish the crime.

 

          The United Nations reported last week that it has received just $145 million of the $349 million in funds it has requested to ameliorate the humanitarian crisis.  Secretary-General Kofi Annan also said at a news conference last week that the world body particularly needs helicopters and other equipment to deliver the aid.

 

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The Diocesan Social Action Office is also urging faith communities throughout Northeast Ohio to remember the suffering people of Sudan in prayer throughout the week and during weekend prayer services.  Catholic Relief Services has developed a simple prayer resource that is available by calling 888-620-5280 or visiting www.catholicrelief.org.

 

          “There have been two million deaths and five million refugees in over 20 years of conflict, said Allio.  This is one of the most horrific humanitarian crises in recent times.  If significant numbers of Ohioans would fast, pray and take action, I am convinced that tremendous good will result from such a witness.  People of faith throughout the world must not passively sit by and allow this genocide to continue.” 

          Meanwhile, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, secretary of State (for the Vatican), recently released a letter in behalf of Pope John Paul 11 which hope “that the people of Darfur will be given all necessary humanitarian aid, especially in the upcoming rainy season, during which time their survival will become even more difficult.  He trusts that the Sudanese authorities, in partnership with the international community, will intensify their efforts to reach a just solution for Darfur.  This will happen when the voice of the peoples of Darfur is heard and recognized, and when their fundamental human rights are respected, especially the right to life, to political and religious freedom, and to a peaceful existence in their own territories.”  An envoy of the pope traveled to Khartoum, Sudan on July 22, 2004.

 

          Hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians may die unless something is done regarding the conflict led by Arab militia groups known as Janjaweed, supported by the Khartoum Government.  Since February 2003, more than 30,000 people have been killed.  Approximately 1 million have been uprooted with most languishing in camps without food, medicine and shelter.  Some 200,000 have traveled to nearby Chad where they encounter further violence from the Janjaweed militia.  There have been reports that women and young girls have been systematically raped; villages have burned and water and land resources have been poisoned and destroyed.