When addressing the crowd of several thousand people gathered in St. Peter’s Square today, the Pope had a special greeting for members of the Ingrid Betancourt Pro-Peace Association.
Betancourt, then a presidential candidate, was kidnapped by guerrillas of the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC) a year ago, at the height of the electoral campaign, in the San Vicente del Caguan region.
The Holy Father expressed the hope that “all persons kidnapped in Colombia will soon be released.”
FARC is now holding about 800 hostages, in addition to Betancourt and 21 other political leaders.
