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 A Voice for Peace: Silenced
Suspicion turned immediately toward left-wing guerrillas after the assassination of a popular archbishop.

By CWR Staff

Archbishop Isaías Duarte Cancino of Cali, Colombia, was shot and killed on Saturday, March 16, outside a church where he had just presided at a marriage ceremony.

Archbishop Duarte, who was 63 years old, had been an outspoken critic of guerrilla leaders and drug traffickers in his country. His killing has been attributed to those groups.

The archbishop was shot several times in the head and chest, at point-blank range, by gunmen who were waiting outside the Good Shepherd parish church, in a poor section of Cali, where he had witnessed the marriage vows of 100 couples in a group ceremony. The killers escaped on a motorcycle. One of the priests who was accompanying the archbishop was wounded slightly in the arm by a bullet.

Pope John Paul II said the murder was a “barbaric” act, and remarked that Archbishop Duarte had paid a high price for his defense of human rights and human dignity in a Colombian society that has been scarred by civil warfare and cocaine traffic.

The archbishop’s death came at a time when government troops have been conducting a major offensive against the country’s largest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). After talks between FARC leaders and President Andrés Pastrana broke down in February, the Colombian army moved into a region that had been a safe haven for FARC guerrillas, and at least 20 rebels were killed in a sweep through the region the week before the assassination.

Plenty of enemies
Archbishop Duarte had also been frank in his criticism of another rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN). In 1999 he had excommunicated ELN members after the group broke into a church in Cali and kidnapped dozens of parishioners.

More recently the archbishop had announced that he knew money from drug traffickers was being funneled into the political campaigns of some candidates for the recent March 10 congressional elections. Despite the prompting of President Pastrana, he refused to give the names of the candidates involved.

The city of Cali has been a major center for cocaine traffic in recent years, and Archbishop Duarte has been the most visible public critic of the drug trade. A secretary for the slain archbishop said that the prelate had recently asked for police protection—apparently in response to death threats. But no police officials were on hand at the time of his assassination.

Father Gersain Paz, a spokesman for the Cali archdiocese, reported that the pastor of Good Shepherd Church had become suspicious about the behavior of some individuals in the church during the wedding ceremony. The pastor says that he called local police, asking for more security. Police deny having received such a call.

As CWR goes to press, no group has taken responsibility for the killing, nor have Colombian law-enforcement officials pointed toward any suspects.

The Good Shepherd
Isaías Duarte Cancino was born at San Gil, in the Santander region of Colombia, on February 15, 1939. He was ordained a priest in Rome on December 1, 1963. He served as a priest and seminary teacher in Bucaramanga, then in 1985 he was appointed an auxiliary bishop of the Bucaramanga archdiocese. In 1988 he became the first bishop of the new diocese of Apartadó, and in August 1995 he was named as the Archbishop of Cali. There he became a leading figure in the fight against both political corruption and guerrilla violence.

As he spoke to pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square on March 17, Pope John Paul said, “The archbishop, generous and courageous in announcing the Good News, paid a high price for his passionate defense of human life, his firm opposition to any type of violence, and his dedication to social development rooted in the Gospel.”

During the midday recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father offered his sympathy to the people and Church in Colombia who are grieving the tragic death of a beloved prelate. “As I pray for the repose of the soul of the archbishop and voice my sympathy to the Colombian Church as she mourns his tragic death,” the Pope said, “once again I encourage the Colombian people to continue along the path of dialogue, putting aside all types of violence, extortion, and kidnapping and taking firm commitment for authentic paths of peace.”

Archbishop Alberto Giraldo Jaramillo, the president of the Colombian bishops’ conference, said that the killers were hoping to sow confusion; at a time when the country is in crisis, he said, “they want chaos and disorientation to reign.” Shortly after the archbishop’s death, power stations in Cali and Bogota were temporarily shut down by sabotage. It is unclear whether these events were related.

The Catholic bishops of Colombia, in a statement mourning the archbishop’s death, spoke of Duarte’s “sincerity, frankness, and courage” in condemning both guerilla leaders and drug merchants. The bishops’ statement also saw a special reminder in the place where the murder occurred. They remarked: “The Good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.”