Rebel faction in Colombia reaches cease-fire pact ahead of Pope’s visit

Ahead of a historic visit by Pope Francis, Colombian officials Monday reached a temporary ceasefire deal with the leftist rebels of the ELN, potentially putting the long troubled nation on track for a broader era of peace.

The deal with the ELN marks Colombia’s first cease-fire with an armed group founded in the 1960s with the aid of radical Catholic priests. It comes on the heels of a peace accord reached last year with what had been Colombia’s largest armed guerrilla group, the FARC.

The ELN, or the National Liberation Army, has long been Colombia’s second largest guerrilla movement, engaging in extortion, kidnappings and attacks on civilians and oil pipelines.

Under the 102-day ceasefire negotiated in Quito, Ecuador after months of talks and set to start Oct. 1, the ELN has pledged to halt those activities. In return, thejailed ELN fighters would receive improved conditions and the government would boost security for leftist community leaders, dozens of whom have been slain in recentmonths.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced the deal on Monday morning, suggesting the cease-fire had come together in part to honor the visit of Pope Francis, the first Latin American pope. A figure who has railed against social injustice, Pope Francis is revered even by leftist guerrillas.

“The pope will arrive at a unique moment in our history, when we are turning the page of an absurd conflict and we are looking toward the future,” Mr. Santos said inannouncing the cease-fire.

Evangelical Christians now make up 15 percent of the population in Colombia, where the Roman Catholic Church until recent decades had few rivals. It’s a trend seen throughout Latin America, where flight from the Catholic Church is spreading. While only 4 percent in the region identified as non-Catholic Christians in 1970, today they number about 20 percent. Many within the Catholic Church are hoping that Pope Francis will help draw disillusioned parishioners back to the pews when he visits Colombiathis week.

“The principal reason for the selection of the first Latin American pope is the great decline in membership,” said Andrew Chesnut, director of Catholic studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. But, he added, “For the moment there is no concrete evidence that the pope has been able to stop the flight of the faithful.”

Since rising to his office, Pope Francis has presided over a surge of diplomatic efforts by his church in Latin America. Under the direction of the former cardinal of Buenos Aires, the Vatican helped broker the 2015 thaw in relations between Cuba and the United States, and has also sought to bring the government and the oppositiontogether in Venezuela.