(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis will declare Bishop Jesús Emilio Jaramillo Monsalve of Arauca and Father Pedro Maria Ramirez Ramos of Colombia “Blessed”, which is a step away from final sainthood. Both were martyred for their faith in the last century. The Pope will beatify them at a morning Mass on Friday in Villavicencio, some 94 kms southeast of the Colombian capital Bogota.
On July, Pope Francis approved a decree recognizing the martyrdom of Fr. Ramirez, killed during the outbreak of Colombia’s civil war known as “La Violencia”.
Refused to abandon his people
Born in La Plata on Oct. 23m 1899, Fr. Ramirez was ordained to priesthood in 1931. He served as the pastor of Chaparral then of Cunday and later of El Fresno before opting for Armero , where he was killed on April 10, 1948. When violence between the liberals and conservatives erupted, families in Armero offered to smuggle him out of the area to safety but he refused to abandon his people.
The rebels burst into his church and dragged him to the town square where they lynched and mutilated him.
Trinitarian Father Antonio Doménico Sáez Albéniz, the postulator or promoter of the cause of beatification and canonization of Fr. Ramirez, told Vatican Radio that he was a very faithful priest given much to prayer, especially to the Eucharist, and quite demanding in questions of morality of the people. As he was about to be taken to the town square by the rebels, he wrote down his last declaration, thanking the bishop for having posted him in Armero and expressing his gratitude to the Church. He said he was ready to shed his blood for his people .
Fr. Saez said Fr. Ramirez is a martyr because he died for his faith and for justice . With several Protestant sects and Communists active there, Armero was not a particularly religious town. Several priests assigned to Armero before him had given up and gone away but Fr. Ramirez volunteered to go there.
Faithful to the last
The postulator said that with the eruption of violence in 1948 in Bogota, Armero also was involved, with Fr. Saez was accused of everything. Some women persuaded him to go into hiding, but the priest said he had “consulted his Lord” who asked him to say on. While being dragged to the square amidst insults, Fr. Ramirez forgave those about to kill him, Fr. Saez said. The messge of Fr. Ramirez is one of fidelity , which he expressed in the profound awareness of his priesthood, Fr. Saez added.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) One of the highlights of Pope Francis’ Sept. 6-11 Apostolic visit to Colombia, is to offer the nation emerging from decades of armed conflict, two martyrs to imitate in their task of peace, reconciliation and nation building.
At a morning Mass on Friday in Villavicencio, some 94 kms southeast of the capital Bogota, Pope Francis will declare Bishop Jesús Emilio Jaramillo Monsalve of Arauca and Father Pedro María Ramírez Ramos Blessed, which is a step away from final sainthood. Both were killed for their faith in the last century.
Critic of rights abuses
A strong critic of the armed rebel group, the National Liberation Army ( ELN ), Bishop Jaramillo, a member of the Xaverian Missionaries of Yarumal, spoke out against the group’s atrocities in the conflict and a drug war . Opting to be the voice of the poor and the marginalized, he came to be known as a zealous and caring pastor, fighting against social injustice. The ELN, that on Monday agreed to a temporary ceasefire with the Colombian government, killed Bishop Jaramillo on Oct. 2, 1989, after kidnapping him.
Zealous pastor
Redemptorist priest, Fr. Antonio Marrazzo, the postulato r or promoter of the beatification and canonization of Bishop Jaramillo, spoke to Vatican Radio about his martyrdom. He said the 73-year old bishop preached the Gospel not just by word but more by promoting the human person . He joined the Xaverians who were reaching out to Colombia’s remote and abandoned regions inhabited by peasants and the natives . He set up institutions for their uplift and also started a hospital for them.
Fr. Marazzo noted that Bishop Jaramillo lived at a time when the armed guerilla groups such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) were born. The ELN, active in the area of the bishop, criticized and calumniated him and his apostolate. The group also falsely denounced the bishop for misappropriating the salaries of teachers from an institution set by the government in collaboration with the bishops’ conference.
Serene in his last moments
The postulator said that Bishop Jaramillo was killed for his faith because he was a stumbling block to the ELN ideology. The bishop was on a parish visit along with two priests, when they were abducted by the rebels. The bishop asked that the priests be allowed to go. One of the priests came back to the spot where they were abducted and found the tortured body of Bishop Jaramillo with several bullet wounds.
Fr. Marazzo noted that Bishop Jaramillo is well known to Colombians, including young people, particularly for his integrity of life and total fidelity to Christ. From the two priests who were abducted by the rebels, Fr. Marazzo said, they came to know that the bishop was serene in his last moments, knowing he was doing God’s will. The fact that Pope Francis is himself beatifying Bishop Jaramillo, is not just a sign of hope but also an invitation and an exhortation to the people to forge ahead in promoting the human person in his/her integrity.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Colombians are looking not just for peace – a word which can have political connotations – but also for reconciliation as Pope Francis visits the country this week.
That was the message of Father Mauricio Urbina , a priest of the Archdiocese of Bogotà, an assistant to Cardinal Rubén Salazar and pastor of a parish in the nation’s capital.
“Colombia has been a country that has suffered from different… fractures, we can say, along its history, so reconciliation inside the families, and even inside the same church, is very important for us, and I would hope would be the main topic,” said Fr Urbina, speaking with Vatican Radio’s Linda Bordoni.
EVANGELIZATION
Asked about the Pope’s message for priests and religious, which the Holy Father will give on Saturday in the city of Medellín, Fr Urbina said he thought the Church in Colombia has been heading in the direction already pointed out by Pope Francis: Going out of the sacristies, going out of “our own places, our own houses, of our own, also, mental ideas” to evangelize the many Colombians who are waiting for the Gospel. He said he would “receive and hope for” a word in that sense.”
RECONCILIATION
With the world’s attention focused on Colombia, Fr Urbina said he hoped Colombia would be seen as a “place where we can reconcile [with] each other.” Referring to the theme of the Apostolic Visit – “Let us take the first step” – he emphasized that the first step is “toward Christ.” Colombians, he said, “are taking the first step, not towards violence, not towards division, but towards unity, towards making a new reality out of this country that has suffered so much for so many years.”
Father Urbina noted the importance of hearing the voices of the victims of decades old conflict, especially during a meeting with the Holy Father at Villavicencio on Friday. He said it is important to hear the voices of the victims themselves, but also to have their voices heard through the Pope. It is important, he said, to see how Colombians have suffered – but also to see how they are willing to be reconciled to one another.
Listen to the full interview of Father Mauricio Urbina with Linda Bordoni:
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Concluding a long day in Bogotá, which began with an official welcome ceremony and ended with the celebration of Holy Mass in the presence of over one million people, Pope Francis was given a goodnight and goodbye display of fireworks from the city that sees him depart for Villavicencio Friday on day 3 of his apostolic journey to Colombia.
And before turning in for the night at the Apostolic nunciature, the Pope was greeted by a crowd of singing faithful and a group of children and teenagers with mental disabilities waiting for a word and the comforting touch of the man who never fails to uphold their rights and their human dignity.
And sure enough, Pope Francis – who must have been very tired – did not hasten by, but took time to look each of them in the eyes, hugging them fiercely to his chest.
“Vulnerability” a visibly moved Pope said “is the essence of the human person”.
“We are all vulnerable, he continued, except for the Lord himself”.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Amongst the over one million faithful attending the Papal Mass in Bogotá on Thursday there were thousands of victims of Colombia’s conflict and groups of Venezuelan refugees on the run from violence and misery in their own country.
The former in search of the strength needed to forgive, the latter hoping for consolation and support, support they have been receiving from the Churches on the border between the two countries, and from Venezuelan and Colombian Bishops who are setting up an emergency pastoral programme in response to the situation.
In the city’s Simon Bolivar park, the deeply religious faithful listened in sombre silence as Pope Francis denounced the “thick darkness” that sparks violence and takes human lives in Colombia and elsewhere.
He said such darkness is a “thirst for vengeance and the hatred which stains the hands of those who would right wrongs on their own authority, the darkness of those who become numb to the pain of so many victims.”
The Pope has described himself as a “pilgrim of peace” in Colombia which is trying to take the first steps of a difficult post-conflict process. A process set off by the signing of a peace deal between the government and FARC rebels who have disarmed and converted into a political party, and just last week the announcement of a bilateral ceasefire with the ELN rebel group.
Essential steps on the road to peace for sure, but true peace does not yet reign in Colombia where ongoing violence by paramilitary groups and a fistful of smaller rebel militias continues to displace communities and create power vacuums in territories now being taken over by paramilitaries and drug traffickers.
So, well aware of his flock’s deep need for words of enlightenment indicating the direction and beauty of human existence, Pope Francis reminded the faithful to trust in the Lord “whose word – he said – is fruitful even where the hostility of human darkness” destroys and plunders.
“We need to call out to one another, to signal each other” he said, to see each other again as “brothers and sisters, companions on the way, partners in this common cause which is the homeland”.
The Pope concluded his homily quoting the theme of this intense day of faith, support, comfort and commitment in Bogotà: leave selfishness, fears and paralysis behind – he said – and become “artisans of peace, promoters of life”.
In Bogotà with Pope Francis, I’m Linda Bordoni
(from Vatican Radio)…