Pope Francis called on Colombia’s Catholic majority to reconcile as the country faces major divisions after decades of war.
In a video message released by the Colombian Catholic Church, the top cleric called on the more than 30 million Catholics in the country to “take the first step” in reconciliation, the official theme of his five-day visit that will begin on Wednesday.
Pope Francis
The pope had long conditioned his visit to the successful ending of peace talks between the government, led by Juan Manuel Santos, and the country’s longest-living guerrilla group, the FARC.
Ahead of his visit, the pope and Colombia’s branch of the Catholic Church played an active part in diplomatic pressure to convince Santos and the country’s last-standing guerrilla group, the ELN, to cease fire for the first time in 53 years.
As decades of war have severely divided the predominantly Catholic public, the pope has earlier invited Colombians to reconcile, a message he repeated in his message to the Colombian people.
Pope Francis
Pope Francis
The pope will be in Colombia between Wednesday and Sunday and visit the cities of Bogota, Medellin, Villavicencio and Cartagena.