"Way of the Cross" Caravan Proceeds as Planned in Colombia

Catholic Relief Services
Tuesday, 12 March 2002

A 14-day religious caravan across 15 towns began today as a countrywide call for peace in Colombia, a country whose people have been suffering through a brutal civil war for nearly four decades. Viacrucis Nacional (National Way of the Cross) is an annual pilgrimage coordinated by the National Secretariat for Social Ministry (SNPS)/Caritas Colombia and local dioceses which this year will receive support from Catholic Relief Services (CRS) through its In Solidarity with Colombia program.

Despite last month's rupture of the peace process between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Caritas Colombia and CRS are supporting the caravan, which for a seventh year will demonstrate solidarity and focus attention on an area of the country where human rights violations are rampant. Viacrucis 2002 will move through southeastern Colombia, an area where innocent civilians are in constant danger from the various armed actors in Colombia's conflict. The selected area includes parts of the former FARC-controlled zone that became the focus of a Colombian Military campaign following the rupture in the peace process.

"Viacrucis is one of the most important events developed by the Colombian Catholic Church," says Monsignor Héctor Fabio Henao, director of SNPS. "It works for the promotion and respect of human rights, the quest for peace and a resolution to the current conflict."

The pilgrimage involves traveling with a large metal cross through 15 towns for 14 days. Each town's inhabitants combine the folklore and culture of their communities with their faith as a way of demonstrating their commitment to fight for human rights and peace in Colombia.

Viacrucis 2002 will travel through the towns of Calamar, San José del Guaviare, Puerto Rico, Granada, Mesetas, Lejanias, El Dorado, San Martín, Acacías, Puerto López, Puerto Galtán, Villa Nueva, Medina, Cumaral, and Villavicencio.

Catholic Relief Services has worked in Colombia since 1954 and currently manages its Colombia program from Ecuador, where the agency has worked since 1955. As an agency of the U.S. Catholic community, CRS launched its program In Solidarity with Colombia in response to requests by Colombian Catholic Church organizations to address the injustices in the country occurring as a result of the illegal drug trade and more than 30 years of civil war.

For more information, or to contact Catholic Relief Services, see their website at: www.catholicrelief.org