Pope pushes Colombian reconciliation

Church bids to bring rebels into civilian life

LA PAZ: The rebel commander approached church workers at a remote camp in northern Colombia with an unusual request.

Four former combatants beginning life as civilians had recently given birth, the first children born to women no longer dodging bombs and bullets in the jungle.

“They are waiting to be baptised,’’ he said. Would the church provide a priest?

In the nine months since Colombia passed a historic peace accord with the nation’s largest rebel group to end Latin America’s l ong-running conflict, the Roman Catholic Church has emerged as a guiding force in bringing rebels back to civilian life and leading a still-bitter nation toward reconciliation. Pope Francis is expected to build on those efforts during this week’s trip to the country.

Priests are celebrating Mass at former rebel camps. Catholic aid workers are helping former guerrillas track down relatives they have not seen in decades.

In the rural communities hit hardest by the 53-year conflict, church teams of psychologists and social workers are explaining the peace accord and facilitating encounters with the rebels many mistrust.

“The immediate task is implementing the accords, but the bigger challenge is how to reconcile Colombians,’’ said the Rev Dario Echeverri, secretary-general of the church-led National Conciliation Commission.

Pope Francis has been one of the chief advocates for peace. He will lead a prayer for national reconciliation in the city of Villavicencio, where 6,000 victims from around the country are expected to gather. And he will beatify a Colombian bishop killed in 1989 by guerrillas of the National Liberation Army, another leftist rebel group now negotiating peace. But the pontiff is also likely come face-to-face with profound discord the agreement has sowed even within the church.

“Certain sectors are resistant,’’ said Fernan Gonzalez, coordinator for peace and development with a Jesuit organisation in Bogota.

“This mixes issues related to both Catholic morality and political positions.’’

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) formed in the mid-1960s to mount an armed insurrection.

Much of the FARC has historically been hostile to religion, both over its view that the Catholic Church was a reactionary force backing the Conservative Party during a 10-year civil war known as “La Violencia” (The Violence) and from the atheism of the rebel group’s communist ideology. Dozens of priests were slain and dozens of churches were damaged or destroyed over the years.

“Nearly all of these killings were attributed to leftist guerrillas, particularly the FARC,’’ a 2004 report submitted to the US Senate’s Committee on Foreign Relations read.

Despite the bloodshed, the church took a position as a mediating force. During four years of negotiations in Havana leading to last year’s accord, priests accompanied victims to Cuba to testify about the atrocities they had endured and advocated for indigenous groups.

Pope Francis himself gave negotiators a strong push when he visited Cuba in 2015. He said he would visit Colombia only once an agreement was signed.

The conflict left more than 250,000 people dead. A narrow majority of Colombians rejected the agreement in a referendum before it was passed by congress.

“People still think the FARC should pay with jail and blood,’’ said Diego Lerma, a church worker aiding reconciliation efforts.