12th November, 2015
Churches are playing a "crucial" role in the creation of peace in Colombia, the country’s Minister for the Interior said at a meeting of religious leaders last week.
Speaking at an event involving representatives of more than 150 faith-based organisations at Bogata on 5th November, Juan Fernando Cristo said the work of the churches of all denominations "is crucial to the process of building peace in all parts of our territory". "Through their language of forgiveness, reconciliation and rebuilding, the churches have a lot to contribute”, he said.
Organised by the Ministry of Interior to discuss the role of faith organisations in the peace process underway in Colombia, keynote speakers at the event included Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, the World Council of Churches’ representative to the United Nations.
He said that in Colombia, churches and faith-based organisations played "a fundamental and critical role in the processes of peace building, reconciliation and reconstruction".
"They have an ethical and moral authority to ensure that the processes of peace are based on justice”, said de Faria. “The churches have a presence in the farthest corners of the country, where the state itself finds such a presence to be difficult. They assume a critical role in the reconciliation process."
– DAVID ADAMS
