``The judgment of history will be determined by the courage and determination of the international community to take bold steps now to help this cruel war end. In our judgment, the United States must play a central role in this effort,'' said the Most Rev. John Ricard, bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee and head of Catholic Relief Services.
Ricard is one of three bishops who, together with other officials from U.S. Catholic welfare agencies, spent two weeks in both government-and rebel-controled areas of Africa's largest nation meeting officials and rebel leaders.
War has plagued Sudan for 33 of the 44 years since it gained independence from Anglo-Egyptian rule in 1956.
The latest conflict broke out in 1983 and is commonly portrayed as a fight between the Christian south - although most of the inhabitants there follow traditional African religions - whose leaders are seeking greater autonomy and religious freedom, and the Muslim north.
But scholars and analysts agree that competition for resources, disagreement among ethnic groups historically fueled by outside powers like Britain and Egypt, politics as well as religion all contribute to the conflict.
More than 2 million people have died as a result of fighting and war-related famine since 1983. The World Food Program says more than 3 million people in Sudan are threatened by famine this year.
Ricard told reporters that awareness of the conflict is growing in the United States, and it was the bishops' intention to persuade Americans and their government to become more involved in ending the war.
He said the international community and the United Nations should help negotiate, then monitor, an immediate cessation of hostilities in Sudan.
