Pope shocked by murder of archbishop

Simon Martelli reports on the worldwide outcry following the brutal killing of Colombia's 'peace bishop'
CHRISTIAN leaders have praised the courage of the Colombian archbishop who was killed on Saturday outside a church in Cali where he had been presiding over the celebration of over 100 marriages.
Archbishop Isaias Duarte Cancino, 63, known to parishioners as "the peace bishop", spent much of his career working in some of the country's poorest communities and campaigned against Colombia's drug-money corruption and violence.
Pope John Paul IL who appointed Duarte as archbishop in 1995, described him as a "generous and courageous pastor in announcing the Good News", and said he had paid the highest price for his energetic defence of human life, his firm opposition to all kinds of violence and his dedication to social development as rooted in the Gospel".
Cardinal Cormac MurphyO'Connor, Archbishop of Westminster, said he was deeply shocked by Archbishop Duarte's murder.
He said: "His murder evokes the memory of a similar act of hatred — the murder of Archbishop Oscar Romero in 1980.
"The whole Church. and men and women all over the world who believe in the truth, the justice and the peace for which Archbishop Cancino lived and died, will mourn his death. will remember his life and will condemn whatever evil motivated his murderers and their associates. He will not be forgotten."
The wedding service took place in Aguablanca, a suburb of Cali which is the country's second largest city. It is a particularly dangerous area because of the flourishing cocaine trade and the bloody turf wars fought amongst the numerous gangs based there.
After the service, Archbishop Duarte was approached by two men on the steps of the Good Shepherd Church and shot five times. The men escaped on motorbikes and the archbishop died later in hospital. No one has claimed responsibility but analysts said the killing was probably the work of rebel political groups involved in the country's conflict over drugs.
Ordained a priest in 1963, the archbishop achieved prominence in the 1980s by speaking out against a series of massacres by guerrillas and paramilitaries.
When the National Liberation Army kidnapped the entire congregation of a Cali church in 1999, he publicly excommunicated all of its members.
Last month, the Archbishop denounced the involvement of drugs money in the campaigns of candidates running in Colombia's congressional elections. His accusations prompted a government investigation.
According to a statement by Cafod issued the day before the attack, the paramilitaries in Colombia tend to single out community leaders, human rights defenders and anyone else they consider to be "subversive," so that fear of punishment is widespread and there is very little information available about conditions in the region.
Fr Peter Walters, the only British priest in the diocese, said that the level of violence on the streets was, in his experience. far worse than it ever has been in the past 20 years.
Colombia has endured 38 years of civil war. Some 40,000 people have died over the past decade alone, and a number of priests have been killed in recent years in actions attributed to the guerrilla movement.
Archbishop Pedro Rubiano of Bogota. said he was devastated by Archbishop Duarte's murder.
"It is inconceivable that a good man, a man who dedicated his life to loving God and serving his brothers, has become a victim of the terrible violence which is ripping apart this country," he said.
Fr Walters added: "His death is a tragic loss to the Church and to the poor he so courageously defended."
The Archbishop of Canterbury also expressed his sadness at the death of the Catholic Archbishop. Dr Carey paid tribute to his faith and courage.