Pope Francis will visit Colombia in the first quarter of 2017, the country’s President Juan Manuel Santos said Wednesday.
“After talking with the Vatican we have good news: we can confirm that Pope Francis will visit us during the first quarter of 2017 for four days,” Santos said at a summit of the Colombian Oil Association.
The pope had already promised to visit the South American country if it was able to make peace between the state and the FARC.
Pope Francis vows to visit Colombia if peace is agreed with FARC
This peace was signed on Monday and, according to Santos, the pope is now willing to fulfill his promise to visit the predominantly Catholic country.
The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, led the mass preceding the signing of the accord in which all assembled prayed for the strength to forgive and implement the peace treaty.
The day the Colombian government and FARC rebels signed peace
Pope Francis’ visit will be the third Papal visit to Colombia in its history, after Paul VI in 1968 and John Paul II in 1986.
In addition to requests from Venezuela’s opposition to help mediate the dispute in that country, Francis has not ruled out the possibility that he could act as a mediator in the dispute that has shut the border between Colombia and Venezuela.
