AMERICA/COLOMBIA - Bishops' Statement: “Life, and above all human life, cannot be fully understood unless we become aware of that fact that its origin, its development, and its aim are all found in God, the only Lord.”

Bogota (Agenzia Fides) – At the close of the 87th Plenary Assembly of the Colombian Bishops' Conference (July 6 – 11 in Bogota) the Bishops published a brief final statement, affirming that they will soon publish the decisions made in the Assembly, along with the working documents and criterias that should inspire pastoral plans characterized by the promotion and defense of human life. In fact, the central theme is life.
According to the statement, the Bishops have addressed many topics that are a cause for concern among Colombians today and about which they have made “an objective analysis to determine the negative aspects that should be overcome and the opportunities that are offered to decidedly promote a culture of life.” Many of these things were already mentioned in the II Vatican Council, such as homicides, abortion, euthanasia, suicide, slavery, and prostitution, as well as the terrible workplace conditions. The Bishops are also concerned for the “increase in crime, the degradation of the armed conflict, kidnapping, forced migration, drug addiction, drug trafficking, the destruction of the environment, and corruption.”
The Prelates later mention Article 11 of the Constitution. The policy establishes that “life is an unalienable right and that in Colombia there will be no death penalty.” However, “all these realities above mentioned go against this fundamental right and are the root cause of a serious crisis that Pope John Paul II called “the eclipse of the value of life.”
“Life and above all human life, cannot be fully understood unless we become aware of that fact that its origin, its development, and its aim are all found in God, the only Lord.” Thus, the Bishops reaffirm that “the Gospel of life is at the heart of Jesus's message” and that “life is a fundamental right of every human being and the recognition of this right is the bases for human society and the political community itself.” They exhort the health professionals, those who exercise justice, the Armed Forces, educators, and parents, that in “their work and professional and daily labors, they may be clear in respecting life from conception, through all its stages, until natural death.”
During the Plenary Assembly, the Bishops traveled on July 9 to the Shrine of Our Lady of Chiquinquira, “to pray to Our Lady, placing under her care the Continental Mission...which we will carry out as an intense act of evangelization that will help us to reach out to homes, groups, and communities from all over the country with a message of faith and Christian life.” The President of the Bishops' Conference of Colombia, Archbishop Ruben Salazar Gomez of Barranquilla, said that with this Mission, they hope to “renew the processes of evangelization in our country, with renewed ardor.” “We are experiencing a change in the manner in which the people relate to God...we need to bring about a deep change in our hearts,” the President of the Bishops' Conference said, adding that this initiative would also serve as a foundation for the preparation of the Bicentennial Anniversary of Colombia's independence, in 2010. “All that threatens life will have to be denounced and healed by the Continental Mission,” he affirmed.
Archbishop Luis Augusto Castro Quiroga, who forms part of the animation team of the Mission, explained the central aspects of the initiative, using five key words beginning each with one of the five vowels (in Spanish): “Approach” those who have taken distance from God and the Church; “Encounter” with the the living Christ; “Identity” - so that Christians become aware of their identity; “Others” - people of other cultures, continents, and Dioceses; “Unity” of all the bishops, priests, and laity in the missionary pastoral work, to announce Christ. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 13/7/2009)