Powerful prayer at Colombia peace signing

Pietro Parolin says a prayer for Colombia on behalf of the Vatican, who has closely followed the peace process

 CARTAGENA -- Pope Francis’ Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, on the occasion of the official Colombian peace deal signing, made a speech and led the prayer prior to the singing, the Vatican said Tuesday.

 In this Caribbean coastal city, such an important landmark in Colombia’s turbulent history, the Holy See’s Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, gave a speech on behalf of the pontiff who himself wanted to express his great love and admiration for this Latin-American country.

  “I think that all of us present here are aware that, fundamentally, yes we do find ourselves at the end of a negotiation process, but also at the beginning of a process, contastingly still opent, that requires the contribution and respect of all Colombians,” Parolin said.

 “It is evidently through solidarity that Colombia must alleviate the pain of so many of its inhabitants who have been humiliated and oppressed by violence, that it must halt hate and change the course of its history in order to build a better future with concrete and just institutions.”

 “The most secure method for beginning a better future is reconstructing the dignity of those who suffer. The peace that Colombia so desires must also be centred around a personal reconstruction and empathy -- in fact, it is in the wounds of the human heart that one finds the deep causes of the conflict that has in the last decades torn up this country.”

 “Colombia has experienced first-hand the ambitions of money and power, and due to this, the exploitation of man by man, forced displacement, violence, lack of awareness of the dignity of its own victims, amongst other scourges.”

 “At this present occasion, let us pray to God for the future of this loved people, so that they can walk along paths of truth, justice and peace,” the Vatican’s Secretary of State concluded before citing Matthew in a communal prayer.

 nkd