WASHINGTON, D.C. -- More than 40 leaders of religious groups including Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist traditions, participated June 6 in an interfaith convocation at the National Cathedral, according to a news release from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. They declared their commitment to work together to influence U.S. political leaders to make reducing hunger in the United States and worldwide a greater funding priority.

Some 1,500 worshippers prayed that President Bush and members of the U.S. Congress would preserve and enhance funding for programs that reduce poverty and hunger.

Most of the 40 religious leaders signed a letter delivered to Bush, asking the president to provide "stronger" leadership to prevent cuts in nutrition programs and to work with other world leaders to increase development assistance, debt relief and develop international trade policies that reduce poverty and hunger.

Participants also received commitment cards asking each what they were willing to do to alleviate hunger and poverty.

"The United States must exert leadership in contributing major resources to the reduction of poverty in Africa," said the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the ELCA, Chicago, and president of the Lutheran World Federation, Geneva, Switzerland.

Hanson said he is "delighted" at the level of financial gifts by Lutherans to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal, the Stand With Africa campaign and to Bread for the World, an organization that the ELCA supports.

Bread for the World is working on specific legislation in Congress, Beckmann said. One piece is the Hunger-Free Communities Act (S. 1120, H.R. 2717), aimed at protecting funding for nutrition programs such as the federal Food Stamp Program.

The organization also wants members of Congress to cosponsor the Millennium Development Goals Resolution (H. Con. Res. 172), which urges Bush to use the G-8 and U.N. summits to increase development assistance and debt relief, and to create trade policies that reduce hunger, poverty and disease.