Darfur region needs our prayers

Editor's note: Dec. 9-10 is the Weekend of Prayer for Darfur, Sudan, Africa

By Br. Steve Herro, O.Praem.

	Br. Steve Herro

My Mom got me hooked on Holocaust literature in the 1970s. I read The Hiding Place and The Diary of Anne Frank in junior high. As a St. Norbert College student, I met Dr. Michael Lukens, who exposed the entire college to the Holocaust and its contemporary implications. A few years later at Catholic Theological Union I studied under Fr. John Pawlikowski, OSM, an international scholar on the Holocaust. He later served on the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Committee.

I am sure that Clare Herro, Dr. Lukens, and Fr. Pawlikowski would agree - the church of the 21st century cannot stand idle when another race of people is threatened with extinction.

The Darfur region of the Sudan has been embroiled in a deadly conflict since 2003. At least 400,000 people have been killed; more than 2 million innocent civilians have been forced to flee their homes and now live in displaced-persons camps in Sudan or in refugee camps in neighboring Chad; and more than 3.5 million men, women and children completely rely on international aid for survival.

International human rights organizations label this a "genocide" because the Sudan government primarily has targeted the civilian Fur, Zaghawa and Masaalit ethnic groups, sometimes referred to as "Africans." The government's Janjaweed allies come from some of Darfur's "Arab" tribes. Not since the Rwandan genocide of 1994 has the world seen such a calculated campaign of displacement, starvation, rape and mass slaughter.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has joined over 150 faith based, humanitarian, and human rights organizations to help form the Save Darfur (www.savedarfur.org) coalition. Bp. Thomas Wenski of Orlando, chairman of the Bishops' Committee on International Policy, wrote on Sept. 15, 2006:

"We renew last Easter's plea from our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, that the international community bring 'relief and security ... to the peoples of Darfur, who are living in a dramatic humanitarian situation that is no longer sustainable.' With as many as 400,000 dead, we also renew our call to the Administration to redouble its efforts to end the intolerable moral and humanitarian crisis in Darfur through sustained, high-level engagement that will ensure the compliance of the Sudanese government with its obligations under international law.... As our Conference has consistently asserted, anything less would be unworthy of us as a people committed to human life and dignity."

As people of stewardship, we are called to:

• Pray for the people of Darfur. Join people of good will throughout the world for the Weekend of Prayer for Darfur Dec. 9-10. Remember the people of Darfur in liturgies; lift up their intentions with your family as you pray at home; find a quiet spot and pray privately to God for a resolution to this slaughter. You may adapt Catholic Relief Services' Sudan Prayer Resource (www.crs.org/get_involved/advocacy/grass_roots/Dafur_Sudan_Prayer_Service.pdf) or prayers from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati's Social Action Office (www.catholiccincinnati.org/socialaction/darfur/pdf_docs/Petitions_Oct-Nov06.pdf).

• Study the issue. Helpful sources are the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Holocaust Encyclopedia (www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/); SaveDarfur (www.savedarfur.org); Catholic Relief Services - Sudan: Remembering, Responding and Rebuilding (http://sudan.crs.org/), and the USCCB Office of Social Development and World Peace: Sudan (www.usccb.org/sdwp/international/callafrica/sudan.htm).

• Engage in political advocacy. Contact Pres. George W. Bush, demanding quick enforcement of the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act. The Act restates the U.S. government position that the Darfur conflict constitutes genocide, asks the government to expand the African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur (AMIS) and give the force a stronger mandate, including more logistical support. It directs the government to assist the International Criminal Court to bring justice to those guilty of war crimes in Darfur. As the President begins to draft and negotiate the federal budget for fiscal year 2008, remind him to request funding for U.S. involvement in peacekeeping and humanitarian needs in Darfur.

Throughout Advent and 2007, may we be equally mindful of our suffering brothers and sisters in northeastern Wisconsin, impoverished areas of the United States, and in the many countries of the world facing humanitarian crises.

(Br. Herro is social concerns consultant for the Green Bay Diocese.)