Pope hopes to heal wounds of Colombia’s war
Thousands of victims of Colombia’s five- decade war will seek blessings, guidance and a path to forgiveness from Pope Francis today, during his visit to a region that for years has been known as an epicentre of violence.
The Argentine Pope has received a rapturous welcome in Colombia, a majority Roman Catholic nation, bringing with him a message of peace and unity as he seeks to strengthen faith and heal the scars of civil war.
Francis yesterday urged leaders to enact laws to end the “darkness” of injustice and social inequality that breeds violence. During a mass in Bogota’s sprawling Simon Bolivar Park, he urged Colombians to put their differences behind them and beware “the darkness of thirst for vengeance”.
In the city of Villavicencio today, Francis will hold a prayer meeting with 6000 survivors of a brutal conflict that has left millions scarred by kidnappings, massacres, rape, land mines and displacement.
He will also bless the Cross of Reconciliation, a plain white memorial to the victims, and hear personal testimonies of those who have suffered.
“There has been too much hatred and vengeance. The solitude of always being at loggerheads has been familiar for decades, and its smell has lingered for a hundred years,” the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics said yesterday.
“We do not want any t ype of violence whatsoever to restrict or destroy one more life,” added the Pontiff, who delayed visiting Colombia until a peace deal between the Government and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia ( Farc) rebels was in effect.
Colombians have suffered from war between right- wing para- militaries, Marxist rebels, and government forces since 1964. More than 220,000 have been killed and millions more displaced as the war spilled into towns and rural communities.
The 80- year- old Francis will also beatify two victims as martyrs.
He will take the first step to make saints of Pedro Maria Ramirez, a priest who was killed in 1948 during the period of political violence known as “La Violencia”, and Bishop Jesus Emilio Jaramillo, killed in 1989 by the National Liberation Army ( ELN) for suspected collaboration with the military.
The pontiff wants his message of reconciliation to resonate with the war victims and he urged his Church to help spread the message. “You are not bureaucrats, nor politicians, you are pastors,” he said, addressing bishops in Bogota.
Forgiveness is pivotal if Colombia is to forge lasting peace, break cycles of revenge and rebuild once- hostile communities.
But Colombians are deeply polarised as they prepare to receive 7000 former fighters of the Farc into society and aim to repair divisions from the war.
Many are furious that under last year’s peace deal, Farc leaders accused of kidnapping, displacements and murder will avoid jail sentences and instead may receive seats in Congress as members of a civilian political party.
But at least during the pope’s visit, people seem willing to forgive.
“I’ll be up at 3am to queue. It’s so emotional, just to see him on television makes me tearful,” said Francis Alvarez, a 59- year- old housewife, who hopes to attend the mass in Villavicencio. “It will consolidate peace in this region that’s been so forgotten.”