Sudan

Trocaire (pronounced “throwkara”) is an Irish word for compassion. It is also the name of the Irish wing of Caritas International, the global Catholic charity, and a partner organization to Development and Peace-Caritas Canada (D&P).

As a paramilitary group announced the capture of el-Fasher, the besieged capital of Sudan's North Darfur state, Catholic Church leaders amplified calls for the protection of "forgotten" civilians -- including thousands of children -- trapped in the western Sudanese city.

Amid what a Catholic charity called "unimaginable" suffering of civilians trapped in civil war brutality in Sudan, the United States declared that one of the fighting factions is committing genocide in the country and slapped sanctions on its leader.

Catholic agencies, along with other Christian charities in Sudan, have intensified their food distribution campaign across the country to save hundreds of thousands of suffering Sudanese people from extreme hunger as the civil war entered its second year.