From Catholic News Service

Bishop thanks government for actions on Darfur

By Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The head of the U.S. bishops' Committee on International Policy thanked the Bush administration in a May 11 letter for its recent leadership "in working to secure an end to the terrible tragedy that is Darfur" and asked that those efforts continue.

Bishop Thomas G. Wenski of Orlando, Fla., told U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in the letter that "the experience of the past few days has revealed that progress can be made with high-level U.S. engagement."

Bishop Wenski sent the letter two days after Rice went before the Security Council at the United Nations to ask for an increase in the number of peacekeepers in the Darfur region of Sudan, where an estimated 400,000 people have died in the past three years.

He also noted that President George W. Bush met with Darfur advocates at the White House April 28 and that Deputy Secretary of State Robert A. Zoellick went to Abuja, Nigeria, to encourage the negotiations that ultimately led to a cease-fire agreement between the Sudanese government and Southern rebels.

"Please share the gratitude of our conference with all in the administration who made these initial steps toward peace possible," Bishop Wenski said. "We offer our support for continued and sustained leadership in the difficult days ahead."

The bishop had a similar message in a guest editorial in the May 22 issue of America magazine.

"The signing of a peace agreement by the government and the rebels represents only a first step," he said. "The key to restoring genuine security and stability is sustained high-level pressure and commitment on the part of the international community, particularly the United States."

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