Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Bogotà (Agenzia Fides) – Today, 24 March, at 6:00 pm, the declaration by Colombian civil society regarding the reduction of armed violence and the promotion of development was launched in Bogotà, at the office of the Episcopal Conference. According to the information sent to Fides, the declaration was drafted by the Colombian campaign against landmines, the National Network of initiatives for peace and against war, the Colombian Commission of Jurists, the Centre for Popular Research and Education, by the National Secretariat for Pastoral Social Care (Caritas Columbia) and the Resource Centre for Conflict Analysis, with support from the UN's Development Program.
By signing this declaration, it is hoped that it will promote individual and community commitment to work to identify and build mechanisms that contribute to the effective and lasting reduction of armed violence, promote development and build peace in Colombia. Tomorrow, 25 March, at the 'Universidad del Rosario', there will be an International Forum on “-Weapons, +Development”.
During the 90th Assembly of Bishops, held in Bogotà from 7 to 11 February, Archbishop Salazar Gomez also expressed confidence that President Santos sees peace not just in terms of sitting down to talk with the guerrillas, but creating the necessary conditions throughout the Country to resolve the conflict. “There is not only the armed conflict, there is the whole social conflict: the problem of poverty, income redistribution, land, etc.. The problems of our Country are very complex, extremely varied and wide, and therefore (our President) is very clear that this problem must be tackled in all its complexity in order to create conditions of peace,” Archbishop Gomez added. (CE) (Agenzia Fides, 24/03/2011)
