Many faith groups flourish in freedom throughout Southern California and hold a wide variety of beliefs on aspects of theology as well as on issues ranging from foreign to domestic social policy. However, all hold that we are called to care for one another and provide healing when others are ill or suffer from disease.

As leaders in the faith community, we share a mandate to offer comfort to the sick, dying and bereaved. But when a six-year-old loses her father unnecessarily to prostate cancer because the family was uninsured, or when a husband must bury his wife because she didn't have the insurance to receive an early diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer, we must do more than comfort and pray.

Health coverage is an issue around which faith leaders have united as never before. Both nationally and here in Southern California, a diverse group of religious leaders has joined together to issue a "call to care." We are committed to helping the uninsured receive the health care coverage they need as part of Cover the Uninsured Week, which runs May 10-16, 2004. Spiritual leaders from Christian, Jewish and Muslim congregations across the country are spearheading interfaith activities such as prayer breakfasts, discussions and sermons within their communities, and encouraging their congregants and fellow faith leaders to learn more about the issue.

We ask for a more just and compassionate society that does not stand by while nearly 44 million Americans --- including 8.5 million children --- go without health insurance. These men, women and children are not strangers to us. More than six million of them live here in California. They are part of our families. They live in our communities. They pray, work and study with us.

This is not a problem that will go away on its own. In fact, the problem is getting worse. In 2002, the number of people without health care coverage increased by 2 million, the largest one-year increase in a decade. Lack of health care coverage cuts across lines of religion, race, ethnicity, income and geography. Eight out of 10 uninsured people are in working families. Their employers may not offer health coverage, or they may not be able to afford the premiums.

Men, women and children who don't have coverage live with sickness and die younger because they are forced to go without adequate medical care. They are less likely to receive preventive care, such as annual checkups and tests that could indicate serious illnesses. As a result, many treatable illnesses, such as diabetes and cancer, are not discovered until it is too late.

Uninsured women with breast cancer have a risk of dying that is 30 to 50 percent higher than the risk for women with private coverage. Uninsured patients with colorectal cancer are about 50 percent more likely to die than patients with private coverage, even when cancer is diagnosed at similar stages. In fact, the Institute of Medicine estimates that 18,000 adults in America die each year because they are uninsured.

As we celebrate the Passover and Easter holidays, we are mindful of our mission to bring hope and healing to a fractured world. In this season of redemption, we call upon leaders of our state and our nation to ensure that all of God's children have adequate health care coverage.

The Right Reverend J. Jon Bruno is Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles. Rabbi Mark S. Diamond is executive vice president of the Board of Rabbis of Southern California. They co-chair the Health Care Task Force of the Los Angeles Council of Religious Leaders.