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WEDNESDAY February 16, 2000 vol. 11, no. 33 SECTION THREESee why so many consider the Daily CATHOLIC as the "USA Today for CATHOLICS!"
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The sincerity of the Colombian rebels who kidnapped over a hundred hostages from a Mass on Pentecost last year is still in question as they meet with Vatican officials in Rome. They had hoped to meet with the Pope, but certain stipulations have to be met first and primarily that begins with abandoning all violence. Meanwhile in Bogota, the Colombian Episcopal Conference issued alarm at the growing number of refugees that they see as a very potential problem in providing for them considering the political and socio-economic conditions in that South American country that has been ravaged by natural disasters, unrest, and corruption. continued inside.
VATICAN (CWNews.com) - Colombian rebels, accompanied by
government officials, visited the Vatican on Monday to meet
with Vatican officials and seek their help in mediating an
end to the country's 36-year civil war.
The rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
(FARC) and Colombia's peace commissioner met with a
representative of Pope John Paul II, but are unlikely to
gain an audience with Holy Father during their visit. The
rebels and government officials are on a European tour to
gain support for the peace process in the South American
country.
The six Marxist FARC rebel commanders are all wanted on
murder, kidnapping, and terrorism charges in Colombia. But
arrest warrants pending against them have been suspended
for the duration of slow-moving talks, now a year old, to
end the civil war that has claimed more than 35,000 lives
in the last decade.
Archbishop Pedro Rubiano of Bogota said that while talk
with the FARC is important, it is also important to make
demands of the rebels. "You have to make these people see
that it's not by destroying towns, killing children and
women that peace is made," he said. FARC has been ceded
virtual control of a large portion of Colombia, ruling it
in totalitarian fashion with harsh "war taxes," involuntary
drafts of young men, and a profitable trade in illegal drugs
to North America.
Meanwhile, back in Bogota, the Colombian Bishops' Conference
this week issued a document showing the increasing number
of refugees and displaced as a consequence of rebel
violence in the country.
The document is dated December 1999, but was made public
last weekend, on the occasion of the visit of the Deputy
High Commissioner for the Refugees of the United Nations,
Soren Jesse-Petersen. Jesse-Petersen said during his visit
the Catholic Church has been "one of the few organizations
with reliable figures" on the number of those displaced by
the violence.
The bishops' conference started tracking the displaced
population in 1995, when the problem became a nation-wide
drama. According to the last report, between 1995 and last
year, 726,000 Colombians fled their towns to seek safety in
main cities such as Bogota, Cali and Medellin. Thirty-three
percent were displaced because of "uncontrolled violence,"
29 percent as a consequence of activities from the
left-wing rebels, while 14 percent escaped because of
activities of the right-wing paramilitaries.
The Church's report said 65 percent of the people left
their homes because of direct death threats, while 14
percent did so because of massive killings in the region.
Moreover, 55 percent of the refugees are teenagers or
children, most of whom have become beggars or a cheap and
unstable labor force in the cities.
The report also says that the large majority of the
refugees want to go back to their places of origin, "but
they require a minimum of safety and guarantees from the
government."
The report ends warning that "the problem of the displaced
and refugees in Colombia is increasing to the point of
becoming a problem on its own and not a mere 'side effect'
of the violence, as many authorities seem to believe." It
adds, "It is urgent that simple but bold measures are taken
before this problem fuels even more violence."
While the Holy See and the Colombia rebels work out agreements to abandon violence, Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, Archbishop of Mexico City, asserted that violence has no place in the life of Catholics and those who are proposing violence in the name of Jesus as justice - many espousing liberation theology - are false prophets for Christ would have no part in such acts. The cardinal emphasized the merciful aspects of Our Lord in entreating the people to turn their back on false conceptions of Jesus. continued inside.
MEXICO CITY, 15 (NE) Christ was not involved in any guerilla,
and cannot be represented as such, said this week Cardinal
Norberto Rivera, Archbishop of Mexico. Expressing his concern
for those who use and teach false conceptions of the Lord Jesus,
as well as violent and conflictive interpretations of the
Gospel, the Mexican Cardinal stated that one of the principal
characteristic of the Lord is His mercy.
"Without his mercy,
commitment in favor of the poor and oppressed loses its true
Christian meaning and its evangelical style", he further
emphasized. "Violence is not more evangelical than using our
heart, unless we forget that violence generates more violence,
and that mercy suppresses misery". "In a cold and violent
civilization, it is not easy to accept compassion, mercy and
forgiveness as Christian and human values", the Archbishop of
Mexico emphasized. Nevertheless, to acknowledge our own faults,
ask for forgiveness, and also forgive others, are essential
characteristics of a true Christian life, the Cardinal concluded.
The Foreign Minister of Taiwan expressed strong doubts that there would be full diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Beijing for quite some time because of fundamental differences, chief among them freedom of worship for those Catholics now part of the underground Church as opposed to the communist run Patriotic Catholic Church not in union with Rome. Taiwan also realizes Beijing's demand that if formal relations are established, the latter will demand the Holy See cut off relations with Taiwan.continued inside.
TAIPEI (CWNews.com) - Taiwan's Foreign Minister said today
that fundamental differences between Communist China and
the Vatican make prospects of formal diplomatic relations
between the two unlikely.
Chen Chien-jen was responding to questions from reporters
from Hong Kong and Macao, two territories who are or will
be returned to Beijing's control. "Both Beijing and the
Vatican have maintained various links over the last 20
years, but the variance between the standpoints of the two
sides will make it very difficult for them to reach a
consensus," Chen said.
The Holy See is one of the few countries to maintain formal
diplomatic ties with Taiwan, which China regards as a
breakaway province, and China has made breaking those
relations a key to any diplomatic agreement with the
Vatican. The Communist government's strict control of
religion is also a key sticking point.
The Communist Chinese government requires Christians to
worship only in state-controlled associations, including
the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which eschews
any connections to the Vatican or the Pope. Many Catholics
worship in illegal, underground churches, following only
bishops appointed by the Pope.
Last Friday, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican Secretary
of State, announced that an "unofficial channel" had been
opened. He had stressed that the channel did not establish
official links, but will provide a mechanism through which
both sides can "clarify their positions."
"Of course the Vatican hopes it can care for Catholics
around the world, including the 10 million odd in China,
but whether or not they will compromise their principles to
do so, we will just have to wait and see," said Chen. In
regard to Taiwan's own ties with the Vatican, Chen said the
relationship "has long been very good."
