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THE CHURCH: CONSTANT VICTIM OF THE ARMED CONFLICT IN COLOMBIA

MURDER: THE MONSIGNOR ISAÍAS DUARTE CASE

One of the cases that has most scandalised and horrified the country was that of Monsignor Isaías Duarte, in view of the cruelty, terror and improbability of what happened. He was murdered on 16 March 2002 in "Buen Pastor" church, in the Ricardo Belalcázar district in the city of Cali. After officiating at a ceremony where more than a hundred couples were married, Monsignor died as he left the church after being shot several times by two hired killers from the FARC narco-guerrilla group that escaped on a motorcycle.

Monsignor Duarte was murdered because he openly denounced all violent acts perpetrated by insurgent groups in Colombia. After the mass kidnapping by ELN guerrillas in La María parish in 1999, Monsignor Duarte declared himself an opponent of the guerrillas and of all kidnappings they carried out. He was also recognised in the country for his unceasing work against corruption and drug trafficking, but above all for what he did to achieve peace in the country as a whole and in Valle del Cauca province in particular.

The Public Prosecutor's Office declared Alexander de Jesús Zapata, alias 'Cortico', responsible for the murder, and accused him of first-degree murder, bodily injury, and the illegal carrying of weapons. Subsequently, Jhon Fredy Jiménez (alias 'Basilio') and Carlos Augusto Ramírez Castro (alias 'Calvo', who was later murdered in Palmira - Valle - top security prison) were brought into the investigation as suspects. These three individuals were captured as a result of intelligence work by the Technical Intelligence Group (CTI), the National Police and the Security Administration Department (DAS), which revealed that they were members of a hired assassin group that worked for the FARC. The murder order had been given by 'Pablo Catatumbo', a terrorist who was head of the FARC's western group and had also been responsible for kidnapping twelve members of the Valle provincial assembly.

BIOGRAPHY: MONSIGNOR ISAÍAS DUARTE

"We love you, alive, free and in peace!".
"We all hunger for peace and justice. We are tired of so much violence, and we cannot go on tolerating the unfair deaths of so many Colombians".
(Monsignor Isaías Duarte, April 11, 1998).

Monsignor Isaías Duarte Cancino was born in San Gil, Santander, on February 15, 1939, and he spent his life serving the community, through social pastoral work. His secondary education was in a state institution in the city of Bucaramanga, and he went on from there to study philosophy at the Seminary in Pamplona. After this he went to Rome, where he graduated in Dogmatic Theology at the Gregorian University.

He was ordained as a priest on December 1, 1963, and immediately began work in the Bucaramanga diocese. He held the following posts as priest: assistant vicar at Bucaramanga cathedral, and teacher at Pamplona Seminary. He was parish priest in the parishes of Espíritu Santo (Bucaramanga), Girón and Málaga (currently capital of the Málaga - Soatá diocese), and also at Bucaramanga cathedral. Finally, he was spiritual director of the Main Bucaramanga Seminary and, at the same time, pastoral vicar to the Bucaramanga diocese. He was appointed main bishop of Germania de Numidia and assistant vicar of Bucaramanga on April 10, 1985, taking office on June 17 the same year. On June 18, 1988, he was appointed main bishop of the newly-formed Apartadó diocese, in Urabá (Antioquia).

His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, named him Archbishop of Cali diocese on August 19, 1995, replacing the honourable Pedro Rubiano Sáenz, and from then on he worked enthusiastically to build a better region through education and job programmes for families in the lowest income brackets.

During his time in Cali he was to oversee the formation of more than 38 parishes, especially in areas farthest away from the town centre and in the poorest districts in the region. After the notorious La María church kidnapping, when the ELN captured more than a hundred of the faithful, interrupting Sunday service, Monsignor Duarte won both national and international acclaim for his civil resistance campaigns against kidnapping, during which he made the phrase "we love you, alive, free and in peace!" popular.

Monsignor Duarte was one of the biggest critics of the terrorist groups, who are known for their attacks on the poorest villages in the country. He was also one of the first people to establish that a cease-fire was needed if the peace processes were to appear credible and lasting.

The life of Monsignor Isaías Duarte was cut short by two hired killers working for the FARC on March 16, 2002, in 'Buen Pastor' church in the Ricardo Belalcázar district of Cali.
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The voice of Monsignor Duarte was silenced by the illegal FARC rebel group, but his death, which has to be added to those of the thousands of other Colombian martyrs whose clamours have been silenced by the guns, should show the whole world that the narco-guerrillas are waging war, and that that war is against the people and against men who are trying to build peace. It is clear that in view of their actions, there can be no room for dialogue, no room for reconciliation. The important thing as far as they are concerned is that more voices are not raised against them, voices as loud as that of Monsignor Duarte, voices that have the power to make the whole world understand what their real aim is: poverty, and the destruction of an entire people.