From June 12 to 14, the Working Group for Colombia (GTC) is meeting in Rome for an advocacy tour, which marks a significant effort on the part of the GTC to highlight the country's situation in the international arena and seek to propose joint solutions. Cáritas Latin America and the Caribbean integrates this space through its regional coordinator, Nicolás Meyer.

The Group, which has existed since 1997, is made up of Cáritas Colombiana, of the Episcopal Conference of Colombia, Cáritas Norway, Cáritas Germany, Secours Catholique, CAFOD, Cáritas Española, SCIAF and Catholic Relief Services. This initiative aims to position critical issues of the Colombian reality on the international agenda and strengthen collaboration efforts.

The GTC is a space established since 1997 for the coordination between Cáritas Colombiana and the international network of sister Cáritas, in order to generate processes of coordination of actions and exchange of information on the Colombian reality, with the aim of making strategic issues visible at an international level and identifying opportunities for advocacy with foreign governments and social organizations that contribute to the development of a a more just and fraternal society.

For Nicolás Meyer, the Working Group for Colombia is a fundamental space for collaboration, advocacy and how we can think about strategic issues that can generate significant changes in society.

Our meeting reinforces the importance of joining efforts to influence policies and actions that promote justice, reconciliation and human dignity in Colombia and throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. I highlight some of the important topics that we have discussed these days, such as challenges on land and territory, reconciliation and peace, mixed migratory flows and displacement. An important moment on our agenda was the incredible meeting we had with Pope Francis. As we were a small group, the Holy Father felt at home and motivated us in our commitment to continue caring for the common home and the poor, listening to them and providing the fulfillment of our mission.

Listen to the cry of the land and the poor in Colombia

The first meeting of this tour, on Wednesday the 12th, was a audience with Pope Francis, which highlighted the importance of the social work of the sister Caritas. In his speech, Pope Francis urged us to persevere in efforts to achieve peace in Colombia, describing the Nation as “a noble country, which has suffered a lot, which has tried to overcome, to find peace, in a territory in which sometimes the drug industry prevails and creates war.”

The Pope stressed the importance of missionary bishops in the territories, stating that “the pastor bishops are working very well to bring a message of hope and the Church must support those pastor bishops dedicated to the people.”

Monsignor Juan Carlos Barreto, President of the Cáritas Colombian Social Pastoral Commission, expressed his gratitude to Pope Francis for his actions in favor of peace and reconciliation in Colombia: “The Church in Colombia recognizes and values his messages, proposals and efforts to achieve a reconciled and peaceful humanity. homeland.”

Priority topics

The general objective of this meeting, entitled Memory and Hope, was to deepen and strengthen the commitment of the GTC, regarding the solidarity impact on the issues of Peace and reconciliation, displacement and migration and the care of the Common Home, with a view to contributing from the territories to the construction of a more humane, just and peace.

The advocacy tour has on its agenda meetings with the Dicastery of Integral Human Development, Cáritas Italiana, Cáritas Internationalis, the FAO and San Egidio, with the aim of addressing priority issues such as the care of the Common Home, the construction of peace, human mobility and the work of the Catholic Church in the face of COP 16.