3rd Sunday of Lent: Colombia, land of refugees

The agreement with the FARC (Latin America’s largest guerrilla group) should have finally brought peace to Colombia, but violence by paramilitary groups and persecution of indigenous communities and environmental leaders have continued to hit the country hard. And just when it seemed that population displacements would finally be a thing of the past, the wave of refugees arriving from Venezuela has brought back to the streets images that no one expected to see again.

On the third Sunday of Lent, the JRS (Jesuit Refugee Service) proposes Colombia as a destination to “travel with Jesus and those forcibly displaced”, in an itinerary from the desert to Easter, with the proposal of forgiveness and reconciliation as a way of escape from the vicious circle of hatred and violence.