Today is a special day for Colombia: after 31 years a Pope comes to visit Colombia!

His Holiness the Pope Francisco will visit Bogota, Villavicencio, Medellin and Cartagena.

The motto of the Pope’s Apostolic Journey is: “Let’s take the first step” (Demos el primer paso), it is a moment of grace and happiness in order to dream about the possibility of transforming the country and taking the first step, thanks to the Holy Father that is a missionary of reconciliation.

Purpose of the Pope is to help the country further cement the peace accords signed by the government and the FARC rebel group, a further step in putting to rest a five-decade old civil conflict.

The Pope wants to come to the encounter with Colombians, he’s coming for those who are in the cities and in the countryside and who have a different culture and needs; for the rich and the poor, for the young and the elderly.

Juan Manuel Santos, President of Colombia said: “Knowing that the Pope is coming exclusively to Colombia, and that he’ll do so to bring us a voice of support to Colombians is a privilege that fills us with gratitude. Those of us Colombians who profess the Catholic faith rejoice, but so do those who see in him and his words the spiritual leader of our time. Francis pushed the country to persevere in the search for peace, and he’ll arrive in a unique moment in the country’s history, to appeal for: unity, reconciliation, forgiveness, and above all, encounter.”

As you can imagine we are all very excited, happy, grateful and blessed for this visit!

This article was originally written in Italian

This article was originally written in English