Figures 24

Churches, missions and places of worship

Information received from Pastoral Social shows that over 50 bishops, priests, missionaries and seminarians have been murdered in the last 18 years. Seventeen have been kidnapped and some 38 have been threatened. The Bishop of Arauca was murdered in 1989. Four bishops have been kidnapped - Ariari, Arauca, Tibú (twice) and very recently Zipaquirá close to Bogota. Forty eight priests, three members of religious orders, two missionaries and one seminarian have been murdered. Thirteen priests and a missionary have been kidnapped. Eleven bishops, six monks or nuns have been threatened. The Bishop of Tierradentro and twenty-one priests have been the objects of aggression, and seven priests have been wounded in different incidents. In March 2002 the Archbishop of Cali was murdered; in October the parish priest of Chalán (Sucre) suffered the same fate, as did the Vicar General of Armenia traveling out in a rural area. In November, the Bishop of Zipaquirá, Jorge Enrique Jiménez, Chairman of the Latin American Episcopal Conference was kidnapped with the parish priest Desiderio Orjuela in the rural district of Topaipi, in the same province as Bogota. They were rescued by the army a few days later.

MURDERS OF MEMBERS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH - 1984-2002*

HOMICIDIOS DE MIEMBROS DE LA IGLESIA CATÓLICA

Source: Pastoral Social Processed by: The Observatory of Human Rights and IHL, Office of the Vice President of Colombia. * To November 2002

There are no official records of the murders of non-Catholic ministers, and the numbers are more difficult to compile. The Evangelical Council estimates that 133 pastors have been murdered in the last ten years - 82 of them between 2000 and 2002 and 32 so far this year.

KIDNAPS AND THREATS TO MEMBERS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH - 1997-2002*	THREATS TO MEMBERS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH - 1997-2002*

Source: Pastoral Social Processed by: The Observatory of Human Rights and IHL, Office of the Vice President of Colombia. * To November 2002	Source: Pastoral Social Processed by: The Observatory of Human Rights and IHL, Office of the Vice President of Colombia. * To November 2002

These acts of violence have occurred all over the country in places where priests, pastors and missionaries do their work, act as leaders of the local community and are inmerse in the conflict.

Of the Catholic victims, 85% are priests and members of religious orders, and 11% are bishops or archbishops. The proportion of senior members of the Church is high, since they have been human rights defenders, and leaders simply by the nature of their rank. Since 1997 kidnaps of Catholic ministers has grown steadily and in proportion to the strength of the Church position with regard to the conflict. Attacks on Catholic and other ministers have increased notably in 2002 - in the case of the Catholic ministers, 100% more than last year. Priests and pastors at all levels are a specially vulnerable group.

Source: Pastoral Social Processed by: The Observatory of Human Rights and IHL, Office of the Vice President of Colombia. * To November 2002.

MURDERS AND KIDNAPS OF PASTORS AND MISSIONARIES NON CATOLICS
June 2001- august 2002

June 30, 2001. Yeguerita, Aguachica, Cesar. Eln guerrillas killed four representatives of the Evangelical Church.
August 25, 2001. Alfonso Lopez District of Cali, Valle, Christian Pastor Guillermo Hernandez killed, author unknown.
December 18, 2001. Algeciras, Huila, at the end of a religious rite of the World Missionary Movement, two armed men fired several times at Pastor Manuel Antonio Cruz, 40, who died instantly.
February 28, 2002, in the demilitarized zone, district of Puerto Amor, Pastor Hector Peña killed, probably by Farc - Epl*.
May 6, 2002. District of Las Peñas, Tolu Viejo, Sucre. Evangelical pastor Fredy Urueta was killed by men dressed in army uniforms style.
Jun 14, 2002, district of Campo Hermoso, San Vicente del Caguan, Caqueta, Pastor Vicente Florez of the World Missionary Movement killed by unknown criminals in the middle of a religious service.
August 4, 2002, district of Campo Hermoso, San Vicente del Caguan, Caqueta, Pastor Vicente Florez of the United Pentecostal Church shot, apparently by Farc.

Sources: Press log of the Observatory of Human Rights and IHL, Office of the Vice President of Colombia. * Office of the National Ombudsman.

With regard to the destruction of churches -the most notorious example being that of the church of Bojaya, Choco in the north-west- attacks in course of the conflict had damaged the roofs, fronts, stained glass, or furniture (according to Pastoral Social) of 57 churches or parish priests' houses, or destroyed them completely, since 1996. Places of worship have often been violated- the most notorious examples being the kidnap of the worshippers in the middle of a Mass in Cali, and the shooting of soldiers attending Mass in the town of Pitalito, Huila.

MURDERS, KIDNAPS AND THREATS TO CATHOLIC PRIESTS AND COMMUNITIES RELATED TO GUERRILLAS AND PARAMILITARIES
2002*

Fr. Ruben Rivero was kidnapped on 6-7 January by the Carlos Alirio Buitrago front of the Eln on the road from Medellin to Bogota, at Valle Sol between Cocorna and San Luis. He escaped on 8 January.
Fr. Luis Alberto Toro, a Franciscan, was kidnapped, apparently by the Farc on 10 February, with another person at a roadblock at Alto del Trigo on the Bogota-Villeta road.
Fr. Ramiro Pazichara priest of Funes (Nariño) Diocese of Pasto was wounded during a guerrilla attack on 28 February.
Frs. Jose Gabriel Seguro, of Caicedo Antioquia and Angel Rodriguez of the district of Encarnacion, Urrao, were attacked by members of Farc front 34 on 28 February when Farc was trying to block the passage of coffee trucks on the road.
The Archbishop of Cali, Isaias Duarte, was shot dead on 16 March in Cali. The attack came as he left the church El Buen Pastor in Aguasblancas, Cali, for his car. Fr. Joaquin Cortes, a priest who was with him, was wounded in the arm.
Fr. Juan Ramon Nuñez, priest of La Argentina, Huila, was killed on 6 April in the middle of mass. The Farc Teofilo Forero flying column was apparently responsible.
Fr Saulo Carreño, priest of Saravena and Fr Luis Teodoro Gonzalez of Arauquita were kidnapped in the area on 6 April while they were on a humanitarian mission to receive a group of seven Arauca mayors, councillors and assemblymen who had been kidnapped by the Eln. They were released on 10 April.
Fr. Gersain Paz, Head of Communications of the Archdiocese of Cali and close colleague of Mgr. Isaias Duarte, announced on 8 April that he would have to leave the country due to death threats he had received for his denunciations of the possible authors of the crime.
Fr. Carlos Arturo Yepes, Chaplain to the Governor of Antioquia, was held by the guerrillas on 21 April near Caicedo, Antioquia; and released on the night of 22 April in Urrao.
On 2 May the church of the village of Bellavista, Bojaya, Choco, Diocese of Quibdo, was hit by a gas cylinder bomb launched during combat between the Farc and the paramilitaries. In total, 117 people lost their lives, half of them children; and about the same number were wounded.
The Apostolic Vicar of Tierradentro, Mgr. Jorge Garcia, received death threats in late May- early June. The origin or reasons for the threats were not established, but he was forced to leave the area temporarily.
Fr. Jose Hilario Arango was killed on 27 June in the parish of Sta. Teresa de Jesus in Cali, Valle. He was shot by two masked men who waited for him at the church door at the end of a mass.
The Archbishop of Nueva Pamplona, Mgr. Gustavo Martinez reported on 26 June that threats had been made against the parishes of Cachira, La Carrera, La Vega and La Esperanza.
At the end of June Fr. Hernando Lucero, priest of La Victoria, Ipiales, Nariño, Diocese of Ipiales, was threatened by Farc front 2.
In early July Fr. Hernando Alarcon, priest of El Peñon, Diocese of Zipaquira, had to abandon the parish due to threats from the Farc.
Marta Inés Velez, a sister of the Community of the Poor of San Pedro Claver, was whot dead in Mogotes(Santander) on 15 or 16 July.
Seminarian Luis Carlos Henao, 23, dies on 22 July with two other victims of a Eln roadblock near Yarumal, Antioquia.
The priest of Puerto Alvira, Meta. Roberto Ochoa and a seminarian were two of some 2,000 who had to leave the village temporarily on 27-28 July, under threats from Farc
Fr. Jose Luis Arroyave, who worked in the Medellin communes, was shot to death on 20 September while visiting worshippers in the San Javier district.
*Fr. Jorge Sanchez, priest of Restrepo, Valle (Diocese of Palmira) was shot with three other people on 27 September.
Fr. Jose Luis Cardenas, priest of Chalan, Sucre (Diocese of Sincelejo) was shot dead by unidentified individuals on 17 October when leaving his home early in the morning. Farc front 35 were held responsible.
Mgr. Gabriel Arias, Vicar General of the Diocese of Armenia, and his driver were shot dead on 17 October near Anserma, Caldas.
Mgr. Francisco Xavier Munera, Bishop of San Vicente del Caguan and in locum Bishop pf the Diocese of Florencia was apparently going to be kidnapped by the Farc on 19 October on the road fro San Vicente to Florencia.
Mgr.- Libardo Ramirez, Bishop of Garzón, reported on 23 October that his life had been threatened. Official sources say that a communication had been intercepted, apparently between members of Farc, referring to this possibility.
Jorge Jimenez, Archbishop of Zipaquira and President of the Latin American Episcopal Council, was kidnapped by Farc in rural Pacho, Cundinamarca, on november 11; and subsequently rescued by the forces of law and order.

Source: Pastoral Social, compiled by the Catholic Church, press and other sources; in process of consolidation.