By Catholic News Service

MANCHESTER, England -- The British bishop in charge of the national church's refugee policy has called for a massive humanitarian aid effort for the Darfur region of Sudan, where more than a million people have been driven from their homes.

Bishop Patrick O'Donoghue of Lancaster said in a July 26 statement that the political situation in Sudan also needed to be addressed. He said Darfurians were in "urgent need of protection and aid to stem the threat of illnesses, hunger and death."

Sudan, Uganda focus of papal appeal By Catholic News Service CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy -- Pope John Paul II has urgently appealed for an end to worldwide indifference to ongoing conflicts in Uganda and Sudan. Before his July 25 Angelus, he highlighted the dire humanitarian situation in western Sudan's Darfur region. "The war there, which has intensified (in) the past few months, brings with it ever more poverty, desperation and death," he said. "How can one remain indifferent?" Posted Mon. July 26, 2004 11:55 a.m. CDT Darfur: A genocide waiting to be prevented By Joseph Adero Ngala NAIROBI, Kenya -- Two high-profile officials provided the world with an overdue diplomatic road show in late June and early July. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, followed soon after by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, traveled to Darfur, western Sudan, site of an unfolding humanitarian crisis that many consider genocide. Posted Mon. July 12, 2004 9:05 a.m. CDT U.S. Holocaust museum shuts down to call attention to Sudan genocide By Catholic News Service WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington closed access to its main exhibitions June 24 to call attention to possible genocide in Sudan. Jerry Fowler, director of the museum's committee on conscience, called for immediate action on Darfur. "The time to act in Darfur is now," he said. Posted Wed. June 30, 2003 at 10:05 a.m. CDT Putting Pressure on Sudan By Joseph Adero Ngala NAIROBI, Kenya -- With a powerful and growing chorus of voices declaring that the vast human destruction in Darfur is in fact genocide, why does the Sudan government continue it impede humanitarian access? Posted Tues. June 29, 2004 10:25 a.m. CDT

The international aid group Doctors Without Borders warned July 27 that "urgent action is still overdue." The group said death rates are already significantly above the "emergency threshold."

"This is not surprising as there are extreme shortages of water, food, shelter and latrines, which contribute to high levels of diarrhea among children, a major cause of death," the group said in a statement.

O'Donoghue said, "It is important that the Sudanese government and the international community work together to create a peaceful and secure environment, so that the people of Darfur, if they choose to, can return to their homes in safety and dignity," he said. The bishop also asked British Catholics to pray for peace and reconciliation in Sudan.

Aid agencies are saying the situation will deteriorate as the region's rainy season is about to begin, he said.

In May, Caritas Internationalis, the worldwide network of Catholic relief and development agencies, launched an urgent appeal to raise $1.5 million in aid for Sudanese refugees from Darfur.

More than a million people have been displaced by the region's violence, with 200,000 refugees fleeing into neighboring Chad. About 30,000 people, most of them black Africans, have been killed in Darfur.

International pressure has been mounting on the Sudanese government to crack down on Arab militias, improve security and provide better access for aid agencies. Both the United States and European Union are pushing for U.N. sanctions against Sudan.

The U.S. Congress passed a resolution July 23 labeling the massacres in Darfur as genocide. European Union officials refrained from calling the situation genocide, saying more evidence was needed.