Colombian prelate who brokered peace deal dead at 80

August 05, 2022

Archbishop Luis Augusto Castro Quiroga, who served as president of the national reconciliation commission that brokered the 2016 peace deal in the Colombian conflict, died on August 2 at the age of 80.

A member of the Consolata Missionaries, Archbishop Castro was ordained to the priesthood in 1967 and was appointed vicar apostolic of a Colombian missionary jurisdiction in 1986. Pope St. John Paul II named him Archbishop of Tunja in 1998, and he served as president of the Episcopal Conference of Colombia from 2005 to 2008, and again from 2014 to 2017. Pope Francis accepted his resignation in 2020.

“Real peace cannot be imposed by force,” he said at a UN event in 2018. “Peace begins to come alive and to take shape at the negotiating table with a sincere and truthful dialogue ... Above all, peace is a blessing from God, a gift and not an imposition.”

 

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Further information:

• Fallece monseñor Luis Augusto Castro Quiroga (CEC)
• Comisión de Conciliación Nacional (Conferencia Episcopal de Colombia)