Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Colombia: Bishops expect Pope to visit in first half of 2017

“The Pope will definite visit next year and I hope he can come in the first half. His visit will be of crucial importance to us because the agreement between the government and the guerrillas is a political agreement but now peace must be built and peace is built through forgiveness, reconciliation and fraternity and all these things don’t come with a political agreement, we need to work on them every day. As such, the Pope’s visit is important because it will illuminate us and give us strength to go on,” said Cardinal Rubén Salazar Gómez, Archbishop of Bogotá (Colombia) and President of the Latin American council of bishops (CELAM), in a statement to the Italian Church’s news agency SIR

In the interview with SIR, the cardinal commented on the decision to award Colombia’s president, Juan Manuel Santos, the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize. Santos led the country to peace with the country’s FARC guerrillas. 

“The situation in Colombia is not easy at the moment,” said the cardinal who has been in Monte Carlo in recent days attending the CCEE’s plenary assembly. 

An extraordinary meeting between Colombia’s bishops has been scheduled for next Thursday, to discuss what role the Church is to play in this peace process and what it’s contribution should be.