Pope Francis will visit
Colombia from September 6 to 11 to help celebrate the South
American country's steps to end a 50-year civil war, the Vatican
press office said Friday.
"Accepting the invitation from the President of the Republic
and Colombian bishops, His Holiness Pope Francis will make an
Apostolic Journey to Colombia from 6 to 11 September 2017,
visiting the cities of Bogotá, Villavicencio, Medellín and
Cartagena", said Vatican press office deputy director Paloma
Ovejero.
In December the pope met Colombian President Juan Manuel
Santos and former president Alvaro Uribe.
Santos gave the pope a pen made from a shell casing, which
was used to sign a November, 2016 peace agreement with the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla
movement, putting an end to five decades of violence.
"The bullet is inscribed with the words 'bullets have been
our past, peace is our future'," the Colombian leader told
Francis, inviting him to visit his country.
Francis' trip is the third papal visit to Colombia after a
trip by Pope Paul VI in 1968 and one by Pope John Paul II in
1986.
The Polish pope visited 10 cities.
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