(Vatican Radio) The Colombian people have narrowly - but decisively and stunningly - voted to reject the peace deal between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the FARC, which took four years to negotiate and agree.Listen to James Blears' report: The referendum was a simple yes or no vote. Accordingly, the vote has come back a narrow "no". While 49.8 percent voted "yes", 50.2 percent voted "no". It was that close, but a miss is as good as a mile.It's a stunning slap in the face for President Juan Manuel Santos, who bluntly stated that he has no plan B to cope with this. While it's an extraordinary victory for ex-President Alvaro Uribe, who had steadfastly campaigned for "no".This clearly indicates that, even though the people of Colombia are war-weary after 52 years of civil war, the majority feel that the FARC are getting away with it far too easily, and that they have been castigated ...
(Vatican Radio) The Colombian people have narrowly - but decisively and stunningly - voted to reject the peace deal between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the FARC, which took four years to negotiate and agree.
Listen to James Blears' report:
The referendum was a simple yes or no vote. Accordingly, the vote has come back a narrow "no". While 49.8 percent voted "yes", 50.2 percent voted "no". It was that close, but a miss is as good as a mile.
It's a stunning slap in the face for President Juan Manuel Santos, who bluntly stated that he has no plan B to cope with this. While it's an extraordinary victory for ex-President Alvaro Uribe, who had steadfastly campaigned for "no".
This clearly indicates that, even though the people of Colombia are war-weary after 52 years of civil war, the majority feel that the FARC are getting away with it far too easily, and that they have been castigated with little more than a token slap on the wrist followed by a hearty handshake.
It shows that they certainly haven't accepted FARC leader Timochenko's very public apology for the conflict, which resulted in 260,000 deaths with six million people displaced.
The FARC were given 180 days from the signing of the Peace Agreement, to disarm.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee speaks during the signing of the ELVIS Act to Protect Voice & Likeness in Age of AI event at Robert's Western World on March 21, 2024, in Nashville, Tennessee. / Credit: Jason Kempin/Getty Images for Human Artistry CampaignWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 18, 2024 / 14:15 pm (CNA).The first English-language translation of the Bible in the United States will become an "official state book" in Tennessee on July 1.Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, signed a bill on Tuesday that names the Aitken Bible and nine other texts as official state books in the Tennessee Blue Book (an official manual on the state government). This is the first time Tennessee has formally recognized any official state books.The Bible translation was published by Philadelphia printer Robert Aitken in 1782 and received an official endorsement from Congress. The American Revolution, which began in 1776, halted trade with Great Britain and cut off the supply of Bibles, which prompte...
Cardinal Wilton Gregory speaks at an interview in Rome on April 11, 2024. / Credit: "EWTN News Nightly" screen shotRome Newsroom, Apr 18, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).As the Catholic Church's first African American cardinal was honored at a U.S. seminary in Rome, he recalled the legacy of faith and perseverance of Black Catholics in America, including at a time when they were not accepted by U.S. seminaries. Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, received this year's Rector's Award at an April 11 banquet at the Pontifical North American College, where seminarians from across 99 dioceses in the U.S. live while studying for the priesthood in Rome.In an interview with CNA before the award ceremony, Gregory pointed out that in the 19th century, African Americans who had a vocation to the priesthood were sent to study in Rome and then to serve as missionaries in Africa because at the time they were not allowed to enter U.S. seminaries."Being in Rome reminds me also tha...
Chaldean Patriarch Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako presides over the dedication ceremony of the altar of the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Mosul, Iraq. April 5, 2024. / Credit: Fadi Dinkha/ACI MenaCNA Newsroom, Apr 18, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).When the altar of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Chaldean Catholic Church was consecrated earlier this month in Mosul, Iraq, a former parishioner now living in the United States said she was moved to tears."My eyes were filled with tears as I watched my church and my school return to the beautiful picture engraved in my memory," said Georgena Habbaba, who used to attend the parish and study at the parish school with her brothers. Her own children studied there, too, before the family had to flee Mosul amid worsening violence in 2007. (Note: Habbaba also writes for ACI Mena, CNA's Arabic-language news partner.)"I remembered the wonderful days I spent studying at this school and praying in this church. Very close to my family's house," she t...
