VATICAN - “I ardently pray to God that a lasting and just peace may reign in Colombia in an atmosphere of hope and wellbeing” Benedict XVI's video message to the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Colombia

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - In a Video message on the occasion of a plenary assembly of the Columbian Bishops Conference which is celebrating its centenary, (see Fides 1/7/2008), the Holy Father Benedict XVI said. “Gathered for your 85th plenary assembly you celebrate with gratitude the hundred years of that venerable institution... I gladly join you in this significant commemoration knowing that the Bishops' Conference of Colombia, established in 1908 at the request of the 1st Plenary Council of Latin America, has given continual impulse to the evangelising mission of the Church in that beloved country, seeking adequate ways and means to strengthen ecclesial life in that land and encourage all baptised Catholics to respond with generosity to the call to holiness”.
Referring to the challenges facing the Church in Colombia, Benedict XVI assures the of his "prayers and spiritual closeness in the efforts you are making to ensure the Gospel rings out in all parts of Colombian territory, through initiatives in the fields of pastoral care in education and in universities, and in the concern you show for the imprisoned, the sick, the elderly, indigenous peoples, workers, the displaced, the young and families". "In the certainty that you are laying solid foundations for a promising future, and for the good of the whole Church", he continues, "I encourage you to redouble your attention towards priests, seminarians, missionaries
and religious, and to give renewed impetus to the various formational programmes for catechists, lay people and pastoral care workers".
After highlighting the care with which the bishops seek to be "men of harmony", and their "continual exhortations for an end to the violence, kidnapping, and extortion which affect so many sons and daughters of that beloved land", the Pope concludes his Message by asking God "for an end to these situations which have caused so much suffering, and for a stable and
just peace in Colombia, in a climate of hope and prosperity". He entrusts to the maternal protection of Our Lady of Chiquinquirá the various initiatives organised to mark the centenary, especially the 4th National Congress for Reconciliation and Expocatólica, in August. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 2/7/2008)