wfn.org | Colombia visit report

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                   WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES

        Office of Communication - Press and Information

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 Telephone: (022) 791 61 52/51        Telefax: (022) 798 13 46
                   E-mail:  JWN@WCC-COE.ORG

PRESS RELEASE			FOR IMMEDIATE USE		29 JULY 1996

      WORLD CHURCH MUST SUPPORT PEACE EFFORTS IN COLOMBIA

"Colombia is the most violent and dramatic situation in Latin
America today and the world church must urgently support efforts
to make peace in the country."  That is the conclusion of Rev. Dr
Emilio Castro, former World Council of Churches (WCC) General
Secretary, following a fact-finding mission to the country.

Castro represented the WCC on an ecumenical team visit to
Colombia 14-21 July organised by the Latin American Council of
Churches following a request from the Lutheran, Mennonite and
Presbyterian churches of Colombia.

Also represented in the team were the Lutheran World Federation,
the National Council of Churches in the USA and the World
Alliance of Reformed Churches.

Speaking at WCC headquarters in Geneva, Castro said the
delegation had issued a strong call to the worldwide Christian
community to pray for Colombia and also to support those within
the country who were, despite enormous difficulties, working for
peace.

The former WCC official said the team had met all sectors of
Colombian society and had heard much painful testimony of
persecution, harassment and death.  "This left a profound mark on
us", said Castro.  "One organisation involved in human rights
work told us eighty of their workers had been killed since 1989."

He added, "The tremendous degree of violence in Colombian society
today is caused not just by the fighting between guerilla groups
and the military but also by the multiplication of paramilitary
groups and the corrupting presence of those involved in the
illegal but highly profitable drug trafficking industry."

Pointing out that last year 38,000 violent deaths took place in
the country, Castro said that only 10% of these came from direct
confrontation between the army and guerilla groups, "so it is the
civilian population which suffers most".

Castro said that during the delegation's visit they read daily
reports in the newspapers of violent deaths including those of
two Colombian pentecostal pastors who worked in a rural area.

Castro said the precariousness of life in Colombia provides a
breeding ground for the growth of the illegal narcotics trade and
paramilitary groups.

"The structures of society urgently need to be strengthened.  If
this could happen then non governmental groups could become an
arena where tensions could be expressed and solutions found."  

"The worldwide Christian community must not only pray for
Colombia but must also give concrete support for churches and
other groups working for peace and justice in the country against
incredible odds".

Castro added that the delegation had particularly called on
churches in the USA to help combat the stereotype picture which
exists there of Colombian people.  "There is more than drugs in
Colombia", Castro explained, adding, "We met many struggling to
build a culture of peace and to bring comfort to the suffering. 
The national churches are involved in this work; the world Church
must be also.  We have seen peace processes beginning in most of
the countries of Central America and it is not too naive to
believe that something similar could be possible in Colombia."

Contact: John Newbury  WCC Press & Information Officer
         (+41.22) 791.61.52 (Office); 369.37.26 (Home)

                                                                      

The World Council of Churches is a fellowship of churches, now
330, in more than 100 countries in all continents from virtually
all Christian traditions.  The Roman Catholic Church is not a
member church but works cooperatively with the WCC.  The highest
governing body is the Assembly, which meets approximately every
seven years.  The WCC was formally inaugurated in 1948 in
Amsterdam, Netherlands.  Its staff is headed by general secretary
Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany.