VILLAVICENCIO, Colombia - In a raw, honest prayer service where victims and perpetrators of violence stood under the gaze of a bomb-damaged crucifix, Pope Francis urged Colombians to summon the courage to make peace.

BOGOTA, Colombia – Lilia Yaya recalls being unwelcome in the Catholic Church. Her father, a communist political organizer and labor leader, was excommunicated from the church for his views and activism. Yaya was singled out as a troublemaker in her Catholic school for her father's political activities.

BOGOTA, Colombia – Milena Cardenas was 6 years old when rebels of the M-19 guerrilla group seized the Colombian Supreme Court in 1985. The army counterattacked and more than 100 lives were lost, including 12 of the 25 judges. Eleven cafeteria employees also disappeared; Cardenas' mother was among them.

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican announced Friday that Pope Francis will make a six-day trip to Colombia in September with four cities on his itinerary, almost a year after the government and FARC rebels signed a major peace agreement.

NEW YORK – No sector of society can unite Colombia single-handedly after a half-century of war, but the Catholic church's painstaking local reconciliation effort is a significant step to address the complex situation, Msgr. Hector Fabio Henao said.

BOGOTA, Colombia – Colombia's Catholic bishops urged the government and armed rebels to commit to an indefinite cease-fire while a new peace deal is negotiated after voters rejected an agreement that would have formally ended the Western Hemisphere's longest-running war.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis has welcomed a groundbreaking deal reached between the Colombian government and rebels that promises to end more than 50 years of violent conflict.