Church in Colombia target of violence in last 20 years

Mar 9, 2005 / 22:00 pm

The Bishops Conference of Colombia is reporting that during the last 20 years, 65 priests and religious have been murdered in the country.

According to a report by the secretary of the Conference, Bishop Fabian Marulanda, “The situation is so grave that up to 69 churches and rectories have been destroyed, 24 religious have been kidnapped and 13 have been assaulted.”

The bishops explained that, “Perhaps these people have paid with their lives for boldly denouncing the atrocities committed by illegally armed groups in Colombia.”