- Title: Pope says young must teach older generations to forgive for future without hate
- Date: 7th September 2017
- Summary: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (SEPTEMBER 07, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE GATHERED OUTSIDE CATHEDRAL (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) POPE FRANCIS, SAYING: "Also, our youth makes them capable of doing something that is very difficult to do in life: forgive. Forgive those who have hurt us. It's remarkable to see how you don't allow yourselves to become entranced by old stories. You are taken aback when adults keep mentioning events of division, simply for us to hold grudges. You help us in this attempt to leave behind what we were offended by. To look ahead without the ballast of hatred, because you make us see the world that lies ahead. All of Colombia that wants to grow and continue to develop. That Colombia that needs us all and which adults owe to you (youth)." CROWDS CHANTING FOR POPE FRANCIS FRANCIS BEING HEARD GIVING THE BLESSING FRANCIS WAVING AT CROWD WOMAN WHO FAINTED BEING HELPED UP BY SECURITY OFFICERS WOMAN BEING TAKEN AWAY IN STRETCHER
- Embargoed: 21st September 2017 19:31
- Keywords: Pope Francis pope in Colombia Bogota Plaza Bolivar Bogota Cathedral address crowds gathered
- Location: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA
- City: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA
- Country: Colombia
- Topics: Religion/Belief,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA0036XLN0P3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Pope Francis on Thursday (September 7) urged Colombians to learn from youngsters and open their hearts to forgiveness following a bloody 50-year war with guerrillas but challenged the country's leaders to enact just laws to resolve the causes of inequality that lead to violence.
At the start of his first full day in Colombia, Francis addressed a raucous crowd of young people outside in Plaza Bolivar.
Colombians are deeply polarized as they prepare to receive 7,000 former fighters of the FARC guerrilla group into society and aim to repair divisions after a war that killed more than 220,000 people and displaced millions over five decades.
Francis, on his 20th foreign trip and his fifth to his native Latin America, prayed in the colonial Cathedral before a painting of Our Lady of Chiquinquira, the patron saint of overwhelmingly Catholic Colombia.
At this point in Colombia's history, the young had a duty to teach older generations "to look to the future without the burden of hate and learn to forgive," Francis said.
After addressing bishops, Francis was due to say a Mass before an expected crowd of more than a million people in Simon Bolivar Park.
He will visit the cities of Villavicencio, Medellin and Cartagena before leaving for Rome on Sunday night. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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