Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Catholic News

Home

Home
Catholic
Religion News
After Colombians reject FARC deal, bishops urge prayers for peace

After Colombians reject FARC deal, bishops urge prayers for peace

Last updated on: October 4, 2016 at 9:39 pm by CNA Daily News

After Colombians reject FARC deal, bishops urge prayers for peace 2016-10-04T21:39:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Bogotá, Colombia, Oct 4, 2016 / 03:39 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- After Colombian voters narrowly rejected a peace deal with the FARC rebels on Sunday, the Archbishop of Tunja encouraged the nation's faithful to “continue to pray and work” for peace, since “before all else, it is a gift, a grace of God.”

A peace agreement was signed Sept. 26 to end the 52-year conflict between the Colombian government and the Marxist rebel group, but was submitted to a referendum Oct. 2 to be ratified. In that plebiscite, 50.2 percent of voters rejected the peace deal.

Archbishop Luis Augusto Castro Quiroga, who is president of the Colombian bishop' conference, told CNA that “as the Church, it is our part to continue to invite all Colombians to pray for peace, because peace before all else is a gift, a grace of God and also our task. So we must continue praying and working.”

He added that the Church in Colombia invited “all Colombians to vote, and to vote conscientiously, reflecting, trying to understand what you were doing. Naturally, we did not insinuate how one should vote.”

“Anyway, I believe that this leads us, first of all, to have to make a very serious commitment to not stop working for peace; that must be our goal, a goal pursued with great insistence,” Archbishop Castro stated.

The archbishop emphasized that both Timoleón Jiménez, the leader of FARC, and president Juan Manuel Santos spoke in favor of continuing the peace process, and said it is important to work for “political reconciliation, and on the other hand for personal reconciliation.”

Archbishop Castro also urged Colombians to not categorize “as good and bad ” those who voted for or against the peace accord, since “many voted 'No' not because they don't want peace, but because they want a better, more structured peace, where not so much is given away to the guerrillas.”

“For now I believe that, despite everything, all Colombians need to be reconciled.”

Dialogue is needed following the referendum, the archbishop said: “A calm dialogue, a positive dialogue of all the forces facing each other.”

“Something very good can come out of dialogue, such as a series of contributions to reform the peace accord and to work on it again for the peace process,” Archbishop Castro reflected.

He emphasized that “in no way” can the hope for peace be lost, since “all Colombians want peace.”

Archbishop Castro underscored that “the problem is not whether people want peace or not. We all want peace here in Colombia, but some think that a much better accord can be made than the one that was, and so they voted 'No.'”

He also urged the government to “develop a new pedagogy,” explaining the complex terms of the peace accord to voters in a simpler way.

Cardinal Rubén Salazar Gómez of Bogotá tweeted shortly after the referendum that “We are in the hands of the Lord. He is the lord of history, but everyone must assume his own responsibility in the task of building peace.”

Estamos en manos del Señor. Él es el dueño de la historia, pero cada uno debe asumir su propia responsabilidad en la tarea de construir paz.

— Rubén Salazar Gómez (@cardenalruben) October 3, 2016

The peace accord was reached after four years of negotiations in Cuba. The deal was to have incorporated some of FARC's leadership into the government in exchange for their disarmament and renunciation of kidnapping and drug trafficking.

Many Colombians who voted against ratification charged that it was too lenient on the FARC; those members who confessed to crime were to have been given more lenient sentences, and not face time in conventional jails.

Those who voted no on ratifying the deal want to renegotiate the agreement, with fewer concessions made to the FARC.

Since 1964, as many as 260,000 people have been killed and millions displaced in Colombia's civil war.

The conflict has engendered right wing paramilitaries aligned with the government, as well as secondary rebel groups such as the National Liberation Army.

Pope Francis had expressed approval of the peace deal when it was agreed to in August, and his Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, attended the Sept. 26 signing in Cartagena.

Santos has said he accepts the result of the referendum, but will continue to work toward peace with the FARC. And the rebel leader, who is known as Timochenko, has said his guerrilla movement “maintains its will for peace and reiterates its disposition to use only words as the weapon to build toward the future.” The existing ceasefire is expected to remain in place.

Fewer than 38 percent of voters participated in the referendum, and the result was divided regionally: voters in outlying provinces were in favor of the peace agreement, while those more inland tended to oppose it.

Americas

Previous Post

October 4, 2016

Will the real St. Francis please stand up?

Next Post

October 4, 2016 Irish archbishop: seek a 'revolution of tenderness', not legal abortion

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which name means "the mother of all living" in Genesis?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Mary Eden Sarah Eve