Bogotá, Colombia, Jul 20, 2007 / 09:31 am
The bishops of Colombia, together with other leaders and government officials, have strongly rejected claims that Archbishop Isaias Duarte Cancino of Cali, who was killed in 2002, was a consulter to the rebel group United Self-Defenses of Colombia.
The bishops rejected the accusations of former paramilitary leader Diego Murillo, who attacked the late archbishop during a trial this week in Medellin.
Murillo claimed that Archbishop Duarte was part of the “group of seven,” a committee made up of “influential leaders” that the rebel group consulted with before making “important decisions.”
Msgr. Fabian Marulanda, secretary general of the Bishops’ Conference of Colombia, told Colombian radio, “The name of somebody as respected as Archbishop Isaias Duarte Cancino cannot be tainted.” He noted that the late archbishop was highly critical of rebel groups and drug traffickers.