Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Bogota (Agenzia Fides) – The Colombian Bishops' Conference, through the National Secretariat of Pastoral-Social Ministry (SNPS/Caritas Colombiana) and Redepaz (National Network of Initiatives for Peace), has declared that the Week for Peace 2010 will take place September 5 to 12 under the slogan "Full Recuperation: No Victim is Unknown to Me." The objective is to promote national solidarity in trying to favor full recovery of all the victims of armed conflicts, enabling recovery of dignity in the context of truth and justice and ensuring that this will not happen again, to make the reconciliation and peace authentic.
A note sent to Fides by the Colombian Bishops' Conference says that among the activities to take place during the week are: an opening march, which aims to bring together all the victims and victims' organizations on September 5 in the Church of San Francisco, to later march to the Cathedral of Bogotá. Follow the Opening Mass, which will kick off the activities planned for the week of this year 2010.
Updates on the initiatives are available at the Pastoral-Social Ministry's website. The Redepaz site has also provided a new section for this event with a detailed program. The strength of this type of event in a country like Colombia can be measured from the participation of many Catholic communities that, while far from the city or from the capital, live and celebrate the initiatives of the Church's life with dynamism. For example, the agency Adital announced that the town of Arauquita, in the Province of Arauca, right on the border with Venezuela, is preparing to celebrate this week with many activities for Peace: meetings, conferences, testimonies of victims of armed conflict, prayer vigils, and cultural acts. The Municipal Committee has informed that this week is a special occasion to renew social relations and respect among communities living in the same area and that, even while they are located farther from the border, belong to the same region. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 02/09/2010)
