Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Lourdes (Agenzia Fides) - A general assembly of the Catholic Bishops of France closed yesterday, 29 March, a day earlier than planned to enable the Bishops to attend the funeral of Archbishop François Saint-Macary, archbishop of Rennes. At the end of the assembly the president of the Bishops’ Conference Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, Archbishop of Bordeaux made an appeal for the Darfur region of Sudan where there is a humanitarian catastrophe.
The statement says the situation in Darfur “cannot remain simply a list of figures: 250,000 dead, 500,000 dependent on humanitarian aid; 3 million displaced". The situation is known because it has been denounced many times by NGOs and United Nations agencies.
"Neither Europe nor France can fail to act in the face of such suffering" the Bishops say. "The crisis is serious and we cannot be silent: wherever people suffer, Christ suffers with them". Although peace agreements were signed in 2006, they are not always respected. The Bishops say the situation demands concrete assistance in various ways not forgetting "that tomorrow after the emergency it will be necessary to rebuild". The Bishops conclude "our commitment as Christians for peace and justice impels to question our leaders including presidential election candidates about what has been done and press them to take action at the diplomatic and humanitarian levels. It is a question of our practice of charity and our reply to the ever topical question “what have you done with your brother” (RG) (Agenzia Fides 30/3/2007; righe 17, parole 231)
