Bishop Gregory asks U.S. bishops for special collection for Sudan

Published: 2004-08-11

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has called on heads of U.S. dioceses to take up a special collection for the more than 1 million people displaced by ethnic violence in western Sudan. Bishop Wilton D. Gregory of Belleville, Ill., told U.S. bishops that the people of Sudan "need your prayers and your help." He said, "The lives of thousands of people hang in the balance." Bishop Gregory called on his fellow bishops to take up a collection at their earliest convenience, noting that Christian, Jewish and Muslim groups were conducting "other efforts" on Aug. 25 to address the humanitarian crisis in Sudan. The bishop also called for a nationwide day of prayer Aug. 22. Bishop Gregory called for the fund-raiser Aug. 5, after speaking with Bishop John H. Ricard of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Fla., who called him from the Darfur region of western Sudan after visiting with refugees. Bishop Ricard, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on International Policy, was in Sudan Aug. 1-5 and spent two days visiting with people displaced by the violence in Darfur.

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