Diverse religious groups unite behind aid for Sudan in Save Darfur Coalition

WASHINGTON (RNS) An unusually broad coalition of Jewish, Muslim, Catholic and evangelical groups has come together to urge intervention by the United States and the United Nations in war-torn Sudan.

The Save Darfur Coalition is comprised of more than 70 religious and humanitarian organizations, a sign that the growing crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan has united groups across religious and ideological lines.

“We must not wait for a legal determination of ‘genocide’ to ensure a massive worldwide humanitarian response and call to end the violence and investigate crimes against humanity,” the coalition said in a “unity statement” released Aug. 3.

Supporters include the four major streams of American Judaism, the Armenian Church in America, the National Council of Churches, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, men’s and women’s Catholic religious orders, the National Association of Evangelicals, Lutheran World Relief and Soka Gakkai International USA Buddhist Association, among others.