Pope in Colombia Archives

Witness of Colombian people a wealth for the church, pope says

Recalling Colombia’s tragic 52-year armed conflict, which was responsible for the deaths of more than 220,000 people, Pope Francis said during his general audience that while the country was torn apart, its strong Christian roots “constituted a guarantee of peace, the solid foundation of its reconstruction and the lifeblood of its invincible hope.”

Francis to Latin American Church: Look to youth, women & laity

In an address to the leaders of Latin America’s continent-wide church council, CELAM, Pope Francis urged them to take forward Aparecida’s ‘continental mission’ by expanding the role of young people, women and lay people. Only well-formed lay believers could rise to the continent’s challenges.

Christ statue mutilated by war to receive papal blessing
- Associated Press, Pope in Colombia
- September 7, 2017
The Friday meeting and prayer of reconciliation are perhaps the highlights of Francis’s five-day visit to Colombia, bringing together some 6,000 victims of the conflict as well as former guerrillas and members of state security forces. At the event will be Bojaya’s Christ statue — perhaps the most powerful reminder of the senseless political violence that left an estimated 220,000 people dead.
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En route to Colombia, Pope Francis prays for Venezuela
- Church, Global Church, Pope in Colombia, Vatican
- September 6, 2017
Asked by Crux about a possible trip to Argentina, he said that, at this point, he has nothing planned.
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Ahead of Colombia visit, Pope says world needs builders of peace, dialogue
- Catholic News Agency, Pope in Colombia, Vatican
- September 5, 2017
In a video message to Colombians ahead of his Sept. 6-11 trip to the country, Pope Francis said Peace is something Colombia has been searching for and working at for many years. And it’s not just any peace, but “a stable, durable peace to see each other and treat each other as brothers, never as enemies.”
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