POPE FRANCIS IS FINALISING HIS FIVE DAY VISIT IN COLOMBIA

By; News room

In his last two days in Colombia Pope Francis visited Villavicencio last evening where he delivered a message of peace to one of the most notorious sites of guerrilla warfare in Colombia for the past 50 years.

This was after Pope Francis beatified two Catholic priests; Bishop Jesus Emilio Jaramillo Monsalve of Arauca who was kidnapped and shot twice in the head by Colombian Marxist guerrillas in 1989.

The other is Rev. Pedro Maria Ramirez Ramos, known asNM! the “martyr of Armero,” who was killed at the start of the Colombian civil war in 1948 that is estimated to have claimed over 220,000 lives.

Pope Francis listened to powerful testimonies from ex-guerrilla fighters and from victims of their violence and he told them not to be afraid of asking for forgiveness adding that it’s the time to defuse hatred and renounce vengeance.

In an open letter to the Pope published by, Rodrigo Londono, former leader of the leftist guerrilla group FARC, asked for forgiveness from Francis for the actions of his group during five decades of war.

Francis continues his visit in Medellin today Saturday and Cartagena on tomorrow Sunday, before returning to the Vatican later in the evening.