Colombia Peace Deal signed today

A peace deal, bringing the five decade long conflict in Colombia to an end, is being signed today. The pen used to sign the peace deal is made from a recycled bullet. It reads: "Bullets wrote our past. Education, our future." Big screens to watch the ceremony have been erected around the country of 49 million people.

Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos says peace with the Farc rebel group will boost economic growth and enable the country to rebuild its social fabric. "War is always more costly than peace," he said in an interview with the BBC. A quarter of a million people were killed during the 52 years of war.

The Secretary of State of the Holy See, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, is among the world's senior diplomats attending the signing of the historic peace accord. In advance of the signing, Colombia's government invited Cardinal Parolin to preside over a liturgy before the ceremony, to unite representatives from the Colombian government and the FARC. He asked God "to enlighten each Colombian to work conscientiously and with complete freedom, so that in a responsible and informed way, they can participate in making decisions that concern the common good of the entire country, which is so dear to Pope Francis." British Home Secretary Amber Rudd was in attendance, along with heads of state and senior representatives from more than 30 countries.

Several Catholic aid and development agencies from Europe and North America, active in Colombia and across Latin America, have issued a joint statement welcoming the accord, including the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, CAFOD, the official Catholic aid agency for England and Wales.

Clare Dixon, Head of CAFOD's Latin America section says: "We hope this deal will bring an end to the violence and fear that has devastated the lives of over seven million people, particularly those living in rural areas; farming communities, Indigenous and Afro-Colombian Peoples." CAFOD has praised the Catholic Church's role during the four-year peace talks between the FARC (the Spanish acronym for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) rebel group and the government.

The Colombian Conference of Catholic Bishops has been a peacebuilder, serving as a mediator between the two sides, and attending talks in Cuba. Archbishop Luis Castro Quiroga of Tunja was present during the negotiations. Throughout the conflict priests and religious accompanied their communities amidst armed confrontation, forced displacement, anti-personnel mines, crossfire and kidnappings.

The Colombian government has announced that a public vote will be held on the deal in October 2016.