Building peace in Colombia | News | Notre Dame News | University of Notre Dame Skip To Content Skip To Navigation Skip To Search University of Notre Dame Notre Dame News Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Home Contact Search Menu Home › News › Building peace in Colombia Building peace in Colombia Published: September 11, 2012 Author: Michael O. Garvey The recently revived peace talks between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are scheduled to begin Oct. 8 in Oslo, Norway. Whatever progress the government and FARC, the country’s largest guerrilla group, will be able to make in bringing to an end the war that has afflicted Colombia for half a century, the Catholic Church of that country is likely to play a crucial peacebuilding role. On Aug. 20, a week before Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced the new negotiations, the University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies and the Catholic Peacebuilding Network (CPN), Catholic Relief Services and the Colombian bishops’ Secretariado Nacional de Pastoral Social/Caritas Colombiana (SNPS) co-sponsored a meeting of 17 Catholic bishops from Colombia to discuss peacebuilding strategies and to hear from specialists in the field. The four-day, off-the-record meeting was held in Miami, whose Archbishop Thomas Wenski served as a host. Among the Colombian bishops, many of whom have been involved in prior peace negotiations, was Archbishop Rubén Salazar Gómez, president of the Colombian episcopal conference. Three Notre Dame faculty members — John Paul Lederach, professor of international peacebuilding; Rev. Daniel G. Groody, C.S.C., associate professor of theology; and Gerard F. Powers, director of Catholic peacebuilding studies for the Kroc Institute — were among the invited participants. The ministry of the Catholic Church has remained active throughout five decades of Colombian conflict, sometimes facilitating negotiations in parts of the country where the Church is the only functioning institution. Often at the cost of their lives, lay church workers, female religious and priests have aided displaced persons, provided safe havens for young people at high risk of recruitment by armed groups, and documented human rights abuses on all sides. According to Powers, “from facilitating negotiations between armed groups to promoting a climate of reconciliation, the scope and depth of the Catholic Church’s role in peacebuilding in Colombia is unmatched around the world.” The Miami meeting is the most recent event in a peacebuilding collaboration between the Colombian Catholic bishops and the CPN, which began five years ago. Contact: Gerard Powers, 574-631-3765, gpowers1@nd.edu Posted In: International Faith Home Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Related September 14, 2022 Apostolic nuncio to Great Britain to deliver the 2022 Keeley Vatican Lecture July 14, 2022 Law School hosts second annual Notre Dame Religious Liberty Summit in Rome July 13, 2022 Catholic peacebuilders bring hope amid the world’s crises June 01, 2022 University of Notre Dame to establish consortium of Catholic universities to study Muslim-Christian relations January 31, 2022 New book explores the role of Catholic peacebuilders in addressing global mining issues For the Media Contact Office of Public Affairs and Communications Notre Dame News 500 Grace Hall Notre Dame, IN 46556 USA Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Pinterest © 2022 University of Notre Dame Search Mobile App News Events Visit Accessibility Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn