2023-05-08 14:58:00
May 8, 2023 / 7:58 a.m.
“The ambassador is a bridge of peace in difficult times.” With this sentence, on the morning of this Monday, May 8, Pope Francis received in audience, at the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican, Mr. Alberto Ospina Carreño, representative of the Republic of Colombia to the Holy See, on the occasion of the Presentation of your credentials.
After his visit to the Vatican and the audience that lasted 15 minutes, in a conversation with ACI Prensa, Ambassador Ospina Carreño stated that it was “an incredible honor” to present his credentials to the Holy Father.
He also described the meeting with the Pontiff and the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, as “transcendental” for “peace” in the South American country.
It should be remembered that Havana (Cuba) is the alternative venue for the third cycle of peace talks between the Government of Colombia and the National Liberation Army (ELN), which began on May 2.
“Pope Francis is very committed to signing all the peace agreements in Colombia. He is a very receptive person, very knowledgeable and knows perfectly well that the Church has been accompanying the Government’s conversations with the different armed fronts”.
The Pontiff also expressed his interest in building a “base, for the moment, essential to sign a full peace agreement.”
Later, the conversation with Cardinal Parolin, remarked the Colombian ambassador, also focused on the dialogues, the progress of which is followed “very closely from here.”
“The Holy Father wishes that these long-awaited agreements can come to a happy ending,” Eng. Ospina Carreño told ACI Prensa.
The Pope is closely following the dialogues
The private audience took place through a “cordial and friendly” dialogue, he confirmed. “You feel like you’re talking to a very experienced friend who is very willing to listen.”
The new Colombian ambassador to the Holy See stated that he saw the Pope “happy” and with an “improved countenance” regarding his state of health before Holy Week, when he spent a few days at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome due to a ” acute pneumonia”.
The Pope -said the Ambassador- “is very aware of the social and spiritual role that the Church has in Colombia and wants to collaborate absolutely in everything and for the common good.”
The process
The dialogues between the Colombian government and the ELN began in November 2022 in Caracas.
The second cycle, held between February and March of this year in Mexico City, concluded with the recognition by the Government of the political status of the ELN as a “rebel armed organization.”
In the third round in Havana, the objective is to reach an agreement for a bilateral ceasefire, civil society participation in the process and humanitarian relief.
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