Bishop calls for intense day of prayer and fasting for end of violence in Mexico

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega during the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution at "La Fe" square in Managua on July 19, 2019. / Getty Images

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Bogotá, Colombia, Jan 19, 2019 / 06:01 am (ACI Prensa).- Cardinal Ruben Salazar Gomez of Bogota said that terror can never be the seed of justice and peace, following Thursday’s car bomb attack at a police academy in the Colombian capital.

The Jan. 17 attack which killed 21 has been attributed to the National Liberation Army (ELN), a left-wing guerilla group. Dozens more were injured, but most have been released from hospital.

“Death, violence and terror can never be the seed of justice and peace,” Cardinal Salazar said in a message posted on the Archdiocese of Bogota’s Twitter account.

“We reject this and every attack that violates the dignity of persons and society,” he added. Cardinal Salazar also expressed his “solidarity with the nation, the police, the victims and their families, and we implore the Lord for forgiveness and peace.”

A vehicle carrying 175 pounds of pentolite, a military-grade explosive, accelerated into the General Santander police academy after being stopped at a checkpoint. The pentolite detonated when the SUV struck a wall. The academy was holding a promotion ceremony for cadets.

Attorney General Néstor Humberto Martínez reported that the vehicle’s driver was José Aldemar Rojas Rodríguez, the ELN’s top explosives expert, and that an accomplice had been arrested in Bogota.

Miguel Ceballos, High Commissioner for Peace, said the government will not dialogue with the ELN “until they hand over all the kidnapped people and completely renounce their criminal acts.”

Archbishop Oscar Urbina Ortega of Villavicencio, president of the Colombian bishops’ conference, stated that “every act of violence engenders more violence, which is why we reiterate the call to continue to work for reconciliation in the country. We pray for the victims. We stand in solidarity with their families and the national police.”

“I ask you to not lose heart in working to overcome enmities and creating bridges that lead us to fraternity in the family and in the various social environments,” he added.

The Military diocese also offered prayers for the victims, their families, and the officer training school.

In a telegram to Cardinal Salazar from Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Pope Francis expressed his “deep sorrow for the victims who lost their lives in such an inhuman act.”

On the scene of the blast, the president of Colombia, Ivan Duque, said that the attack was “not just against young people, or the police, but against all of society.”

He said that what happened “was a demented terrorist attack which will not go unpunished,” and that
“we will act with unbending determination.”

Car bombings were once not uncommon in the Colombian conflict, which has been ongoing among the government, right-wing paramilitaries, and left-wing guerillas since 1964.

The conflict has abated since a 2016 peace deal between the government and the largest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Duque has not taken up peace talks with the ELN.

This article was originally published by our sister agency, ACI Prensa. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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Vatican City, Feb 5, 2019 / 01:17 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis said Tuesday that he had not read Nicolas Maduro’s letter, but expressed an openness to mediate in Venezuela’s political situation, if both sides are willing.

“I will look at that letter, and I will see what can be done,” Pope Francis told reporters aboard the papal plane Feb. 5.

The status of Venezuela’s governance is currently split, as the United States and more than a dozen other European and South American nations no longer recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s president.

Maduro was sworn in for a second term Jan. 10, after winning a contested election in which opposition candidates were barred from running or imprisoned. Amidst the protests that followed, the head of the nation’s parliament, Juan Guaidò, declared himself interim president on Jan. 23, pledging a transitional government and free elections.

Maduro’s leadership in Venezuela has been marred by violence and social upheaval with severe shortages and hyperinflation leading millions of Venezuelans to emigrate.

The pope stressed there are “little steps” needed diplomatically in Venezuela first to “start the possibility of dialogue” before mediation.

He pointed to the “courageous act” of Saint John Paul II’s mediation between Argentina and Chile that averted the possibility of war as an example, but called mediation “the last step” diplomatically.

The European Union, Italy, and Ireland have not recognized Guaido, but instead called for new elections to be held in Venezuela. Russia, China, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Cuba, Iran, Syria, Turkey, and Belarus continue to support Maduro’s leadership.

In response to this legitimacy crisis, Maduro sent a letter to Pope Francis asking him to mediate in Venezuela, telling Italian media Monday that he appealed to the pope as a Christian, asking him to “help us on the path of dialogue.”

Pope Francis said Tuesday that he had received Maduro’s letter before leaving for his trip to the United Arab Emirates Feb. 3-5.

The pope, who is returning from Abu Dhabi for a trip focused on interreligious dialogue, has maintained a strict neutrality on Venezuela. On his return trip from Panama last week, he told reporters that it would be “pastoral imprudence” on his part to choose a side in the current split in Venezuela.

“I support in this moment all of the Venezuelan people – it is a people that is suffering – including those who are one side and the other. All of the people are suffering,” the pope said Jan. 28. Francis then called for “a just and peaceful solution” without bloodshed.

Speaking to reporters in Abu Dhabi, Cardinal Parolin said Feb. 4 that Maduro’s letter “relaunches dialogue” in Venezuela, ANSA reported.

Venezuela’s bishops have taken a less neutral stance, calling Maduro’s election “illegitimate” and backing opposition marches in January. On Feb. 1, Venezuela’s bishops met with Guaido in an effort to mobilize the entrance of humanitarian aid to the crisis-stricken country.

The Archbishop Emeritus of Caracas Jorge Liberato Urosa Savino told ACIPrensa Jan. 29, “I hope Maduro, who always appeals to the pope’s words, heeds those calls [for peace], and steps down from office since his administration has been absolutely harmful for the Venezuelan people.”

On Feb. 7, European Union representatives will meet in Uruguay to discuss a peaceful resolution of the political situation in Venezuela with delegates from Mexico, Bolivia, Costa Rica, and Ecuador with the hope that it will lead to future transparent and credible elections in Venezuela.

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