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Despite a signed and ratified peace agreement, the long journey of regional churches and the WCC in support of peace in Colombia is not over, says the WCC central committee, which urges churches, governments, and others to press toward fulfillment of the terms and promises of the agreement, to prevent momentum ceasing and violence resurging.
Latin America and the Caribbean, and especially Colombia, are the regional focus during 2018 of the ecumenical Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace, with particular focus on peacebuilding after the peace accord, aimed at halting 50 years of violence and atrocity, was signed by outgoing president Juan Manuel Santos and ratified by Colombia’s Congress in 2016.
The statement lauded the ecumenical initiatives in Colombia thus far in 2018, including Pilgrim Team Visits, a meeting of the WCC Churches’ Commission on International Affairs (CCIA), and a public forum on the peace process that featured Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos.
Pointing to unfulfilled aspects of the peace agreement and ongoing volatility of the situation, the central committee noted that “Peace can only be secured by full implementation of agreements reached and resolution of the social and economic injustices which have helped to create a constituency for armed struggle.”
Learn more about the role of the churches in Colombia’s peace process
