Reconciliation Archives

Pope’s trip to Colombia felt like a victory lap for an entire nation

Although some feared going in that Pope Francis’s Sept. 6-11 trip to Colombia could actually worsen divisions in the country over a controversial peace deal rather than promoting reconciliation, in the end the jubilant swing through four cities felt like a victory lap for the entire nation and its capacity to build a different kind of future.

‘Hate leads to hate, death to death,’ Pope Francis tells Colombia

At a national prayer for reconciliation, Pope Francis in Colombia said families torn apart by pain related to the country’s long-running civil war deserve to know what happened to missing relatives, because truth and reconciliation are “inseparable”. He said it also means confessing what happened to children who were recruited bu guerillas and paramilitaries, and recognizing the pain of female victims of violence and abuse.

Human life has to be protected at all stages, Pope Francis says

During an open-air Mass in the Colombian capital of Bogotá on Thursday, Pope Francis delivered a ringing call to defend human life in all its stages, especially when it’s most vulnerable. As examples of the point, the pontiff cited life “in a mother’s womb, in infancy, in old age, in conditions of incapacity and in situations of social marginalization.”

As Pope Francis heads to Colombia, will third time be the charm?
- Pope in Colombia, Vatican
- September 4, 2017
Pope Francis heads to Colombia this week, Latin America’s third most populous nation after Brazil and Mexico, and one item above all looms on his to-do list — encouraging a process of reconciliation to end a bloody, decades-long civil war. A peace deal designed to do just that remains deeply controversial in Colombia, so Francis will have to walk a tightrope in getting his message across.
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Festival promotes reconciliation, fraternal love, and forgiveness in India
- Global Church
- August 8, 2017
Raksha Bandhan means “the bond of protection” in Hindi, and it traditionally celebrates the relationship between brothers and sisters. The festival involves the woman tying a special threadlike bracelet – called a rakhi – to the wrist of the man, symbolizing the obligation of the man to honor and protect the woman. In modern times, the festival celebrates any relationship between men and women which have the characteristics of a brother-sister bond.
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Argentine bishops in hot water for echoing Francis’s message of reconciliation
- Global Church
- May 9, 2017
A May 2-6 assembly of Argentine bishops sparked controversy , when on day three of the meeting the bishops heard the witness from both sides of the 1970s military dictatorship. This was considered by Madres de Plaza de Mayo and other groups as an offense given they already felt the Church had been culpable of collusion with the dictatorship.
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