The pope drew parallels between the church’s work and that of Peter Claver, the patron saint of slaves, who worked as a missionary among Africans in Colombia during the 17th-century slave trade. The pontiff called him “austere and charitable to the point of heroism.”The pope used his visit to Colombia to emphasize the role of local Catholics. Many countries have accuse Mr. Maduro of running a dictatorship, and in Venezuela, many Catholics have urged Francis to join the denunciations. The pontiff’s visit to Colombia was his 20th trip abroad, and his fifth to his native Latin America, since he ascended to the papacy in 2013. Earlier on Sunday, the pope visited a planned housing project for the homeless in Cartagena, where he laid the cornerstone.

Source: New York Times September 10, 2017 22:54 UTC