Dictatorship in Nicaragua sentences priest critical of the regime to 10 years in prison

Panama City, Panama, Jan 22, 2019 / 09:32 am (CNA/EWTN News).- There will be 120 volunteers of the Order of Malta in Panama for World Youth Day, with the task of “providing first aid to young pilgrims”, Prince Dominique de La Rochefoucauld-… […]

CNA Staff, Aug 25, 2020 / 05:19 pm (CNA).- After a number of recent massacres in Colombia, Bishop Elkin Fernando Álvarez Botero, secretary general of the Colombian bishops’ conference, lamented that a “scandalously painful” point has been reached in the country.

Massacres in August have claimed the lives of 42 people. Of these killings, 28 have taken place in three contiguous departments in the southwest corner of the country bordering the Pacific, and 14 in three departments in the northern half of the country.

The latest massacre occurred Aug. 23 in the municipality of Venecia in the department of Antioquia, where three people were killed, including a minor.

“We believe that behind these massacres there is a great degradation into violence. We don’t know where it’s coming from and the real causes of this, but we have reached a scandalously painful point for the Colombian people,” the auxiliary bishop of Medellín said in a statement to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish language news partner.

Bishop Álvarez told ACI Prensa Aug. 24 that “according to our conversations with the bishops of the affected regions, these massacres are not isolated events, they have to do with phenomena happening for many years.”

The bishops have always condemned these incidents, he said, just like “the illicit economy created by the entire drug trafficking process.”

“We don’t know for sure which groups are involved in this, but they’re probably already known illegal armed groups that are causing terror in the region,” the bishop speculated.

“The Colombian episcopate has issued a statement strongly upholding once again the right to life, which is the fundamental right, calling on the armed groups to stop the violence and asking the government for more intervention and presence in these regions; and also calling for the peace accords to continue to be put into effect, in order to continue working with regions so there’s more security for everyone’s lives,” Bishop Álvarez said.

On Aug. 22, six people were murdered in the department of Nariño and two others are missing.

On Aug. 21, two massacres took place. One in the rural municipality of El Tambo, in the department of Cauca, where six people were killed, allegedly executed by members of a dissident faction of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

On Aug. 18, three members of the Awá indigenous community were murdered in the department of Nariño. Three days earlier, eight youths were executed in the town of Catalina in the municipality of Samaniego, also in the department of Nariño.

On Aug. 12, five minors were murdered in Llano Verde, a neighborhood on the east side of Cali, in the department of Valle del Cauca.

On Aug. 2, a massacre of six people was reported in the rural area of the municipality of Puerto Santander de Cúcuta in North Santander department.

The other massacre occurred in the El Caracol district in the department of Arauca, where the FARC dissidents were allegedly responsible for five murders.

A 2016 peace deal between the national government and the FARC was meant to wind-down the country’s now 56-year conflict among the government, right-wing paramilitaries, and left-wing guerillas.

The conflict has left some 260,000 people dead and an estimated 7 million displaced.

On Aug. 23 the president of Colombia, Iván Duque, told TV channel RCN that “there are people saying that the massacres have returned or that mass murders have returned; but they haven’t returned because they never went away, since 1998 we’ve had 1,361 of these incidents in the country and under our administration we’ve had 37, or 2.7% of the total. These crimes must be faced without hypocrisy and with determination.”

After visiting Cali and Samaniego, the president said that “the first thing we have to do is determine the facts, identify the perpetrators and exact penalties to make an example of these despicable acts.”

According to the BBC, the number of Colombian homicides in 2019 was among the lowest such figures since 1975.

Speaking to ACI Prensa, the secretary general of the Colombian bishops’ conference  noted that “in the affected regions the dioceses are very present to the people when this kind of incident occurs. The presence of priests in the communities is valued and very recognized.”

“There’s been support for the families of the victims and the entire peace process continued on the ecclesial level, seeking reconciliation and calling for the protection of people’s lives,” Bishop Álvarez concluded.

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Lima, Peru, Jan 21, 2018 / 11:56 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Sunday Pope Francis told Peruvian youth that Jesus doesn’t want disciples who have been “photoshopped” to perfection, but like the great saints of the past, God calls people to follow him with trust and enthusiasm, despite their weaknesses.

“When Jesus looks at us, he does not think about how perfect we are, but about all the love we have in our hearts to give in serving others,” the Pope said Jan. 21.

With technology it’s easy to digitally enhance photos to make them look the way we want, but this only works for pictures, he said. “We cannot ‘photoshop’ others, the world, or ourselves. Color filtering and high definition only function well in video; we can never apply them to our friends.”

These pictures might turn out nice, but they are “completely fake,” the Pope said, and assured the youth that their hearts “can’t be ‘photoshopped,’ because that’s where authentic love and genuine happiness have to be found.”

“Jesus does not want you to have a cosmetic heart,” he said. “He loves you as you are, and he has a dream for every one of you. Do not forget, he does not get discouraged with us.”

“Moses, he was not articulate; Abraham, an old man; Jeremiah, very young; Zacchaeus, small of stature; the disciples, who fell asleep when Jesus told them they should pray; Paul, a persecutor of Christians; Peter, who denied him,” and the list could go on, he said. “So what excuse can we offer?”

Jesus, Francis explained, wants youth who are “on the move. He wants to see you achieve your ideals and to be enthusiastic in following his instructions.”

This is a difficult path that can’t be walked alone, but must be one “as a team, where each member offers the best of his or her self,” he said, adding that “Jesus is counting on you” just as he counted on the many Peruvian saints who influenced society, including St. Rose of Lima, St. Turibius, St. Juan Macías and St. Francisco Solano, among others.

“Today (Jesus) asks if, like them, you are ready to follow him,” the Pope said, asking the youths “are you willing to follow him? To be guided by his Spirit in making present his Kingdom of justice and love?”

Pope Francis spoke to youth in Lima’s Plaza de Armas before reciting the Angelus on the last day of his Jan. 15-21 visit to Chile and Peru. Earlier in the day he prayed Terce, also called the prayer of the “Third Hour” in the Church’s Liturgy of the Hours, with contemplative sisters.

He also met with the country’s bishops, and after lunch will celebrate Mass at Lima’s “Las Palmas” airbase before returning to Rome.

In his speech to youth, Francis directed them to the example of one of his favorite Peruvian saints, Martin de Porres, who was a the son of a Spanish nobleman and a black slave woman. The saint had wanted to enter the Dominican order, but was initially prevented from becoming a brother due to a law at the time that prevented people of mixed race from joining religious orders.

“Nothing prevented that young man from achieving his dreams, nothing prevented him from spending his life for others, nothing prevented him from loving, and he did so because he had realized that the Lord loved him first,” the Pope said.

Because he was a “mulato,” meaning a person of mixed race, St. Martin had to endure many hardships, but he knew how to do one thing that was the secret to his ultimate happiness: “he knew how to trust.”

“He trusted in the Lord who loved him. Do you know why? Because the Lord had trusted him first; just as he trusts each of you and will never tire of trusting you,” the Pope said.

When we face similar difficulties in our lives, and are tempted to become negative or discouraged, “remember that Jesus is by your side,” Francis said. “Do not give up! Do not lose hope!”

The Pope told the young people to look to the saints for encouragement, but he also urged them ask for help from people they know can give them good advice, and to let these people accompany and guide them as they go forward in life.

“The Lord looks on you with hope,” he said, explaining that God is never discouraged with us, but it is we who get discouraged with ourselves.

Pope Francis closed his speech telling youth to turn to Mary, who will encourage and support them “lest you grow discouraged. And if you get discouraged by anything, do not worry, for she will tell Jesus. Just don’t stop praying, don’t stop asking, don’t stop trusting in her maternal protection.”

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