Freed Columbian Hostage Meets Pope and Talks How Scripture Was Lifeline For Her

I find the story of the rescued Coumbian Hostages such a compelling story. Yesterday one of those freed French-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt met the Pope. That story is compelling in itself


From the AP
Betancourt says meeting the Pope was 'a dream come true'
By ARIEL DAVID ROME,
Sept. 1 (AP))-
Former hostage Ingrid Betancourt on Monday was able at last to thank Pope Benedict XVI, the man whose voice she said reached deep into the Colombian jungle "like a light" to comfort her during captivity. Betancourt, who was rescued in July by Colombia's military after more than six years in the hands of leftist guerrillas, said her private audience with the Pope was "a dream come true." "From my first moment of freedom I wanted to meet and embrace" him, she said at a news conference in Rome, during which she was frequently on the verge of tears.

The former presidential candidate in Colombia credited her religious faith with helping her survive in the years following her kidnapping by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, also known as FARC. She told Benedict that she found comfort in her Catholic faith and in the knowledge that millions of people in Europe and across the world were calling for the kidnappers to free her and her fellow prisoners.

Betancourt told the Pope that once, after a daylong forced march between rebel camps in the jungle, she collapsed in a hammock, exhausted and dispirited, only to switch on the radio and hear Benedict's voice speaking of her plight. "It's hard to explain the psychological effect this has on a prisoner, what it meant to know we hadn't been forgotten at a time when we thought we didn't exist," Betancourt said. "

The voice of the Holy Father was like a light." Betancourt said she told the Pope about her distress for the hundreds of hostages FARC still holds and her concern for Colombia's future after decades of civil war. "The Pope is pained by the suffering of the prisoners," she said. "I know his prayers are also dedicated to obtaining the freedom of all the prisoners and peace in my country."

Betancourt's eyes filled with tears as she made repeated appeals to the heads of FARC to lay down their arms and free the remaining hostages. "The world is watching you, the world is asking you to make space in your hearts for love and forgiveness, as there is in my heart," she said. Betancourt was accompanied by her mother and other family members as she arrived at the papal summer retreat of Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, to meet with the Pope. TV footage showed Betancourt, a black lace veil covering her head, as she shook hands with Benedict and smiled at him. The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the aim of Betancourt's trip was "to thank the Pope for his prayer, his commitment, his remarks in favor of all the hostages and her personally." Betancourt "was very moved, very grateful to have this possibility," said Lombardi. He added the private meeting lasted about 20 minutes.

The Pope had previously appealed for an end of kidnappings in Colombia and had met with Betancourt's mother at the Vatican in February. After the audience, Betancourt told reporters she had not yet decided if she would return to Colombian politics, saying she now wants to concentrate on helping her fellow hostages and all those who suffer around the world. "I want to serve my country, but not necessarily in the political arena," she said. While Betancourt is in Italy, she is also meeting with political leaders, including the country's president, and she has visited the Sant'Egidio Community, a Rome-based lay Catholic group that mediates world conflicts.
I thought is report was pretty intriguing too

ANSA) - Vatican City, September 1 - Former hostage Ingrid Betancourt said on Monday she had ''fulfilled a dream'' by meeting Pope Benedict XVI, describing him as a ''being of light''.The French-Colombian politician was rescued by the Colombian army on July 2 after more than six years in the hands of the Marxist guerrilla group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).She was snatched in 2002, shortly after announcing her intention to run for the Colombian presidency.Betancourt, a devout Catholic, spent more than 20 minutes with the pope, who received her at his summer residence of Castelgandolfo, just outside Rome.''Meeting the pope was an extraordinary experience.

He is a being of light, full of humanity and a very high level of human understanding,'' Betancourt later told a news conference in Rome.The former hostage, who had expressed a wish to meet Benedict soon after her release, said she told him that reading the Bible and praying each day had helped her survive more than six years of captivity in the jungle.''Our pope is a very great scholar of the Bible, which is an extraordinary instrument given to us ...and we agreed that it is necessary for more people to understand its value.Many believe the Bible is a dusty, outdated book and I too had not read it until I was captured. In the jungle, I read and reread it thousands of times. In it I found the answer to everything: it is a work of genius,'' said Betancourt.

She also described how an appeal for her release made by the pope and transmitted by radio had reached her in the jungle and given her new hope. ''One day, they forced us to march from dawn to dusk in the jungle and later, as I sank exhausted into my hammock with a feeling of deep anguish, I turned on the radio and heard the pope speaking my name.

It was as though a light shone and that is why I hoped to meet and embrace him''.Betancourt, who was visibly moved throughout the news conference, said she had very likely broken Vatican protocol by embracing the pontiff as soon as she was introduced into the room to meet him.The pope received Betancourt's mother Yolanda Pulecio in February and told her he was praying for her daughter.

Her mother and sister and two nephews accompanied her to Castelgandolfo.POLITICS NO LONGER A 'PRIORITY', SAYS BETANCOURT.Betancourt did not rule out a return to politics in Colombia but said this was no longer a ''priority''.''Right now, I think my mission is helping the other men and women still being held by the guerrillas.''She said she was keen to ''bring together a group of people who can help alleviate the suffering of others'', not only in Colombia ''but wherever in the world people suffer''. Shortly after her release, Betancourt told reporters that she had recited the rosary during each day of her ordeal.

On Tuesday, the French-Colombian politician will meet Italian President Giorgio Napolitano.She is also due to visit House Speaker Gianfranco Fini,Foreign Minister Franco Frattini and the oppositionDemocratic Party leader Walter Veltroni during her trip toItaly.She will travel to Florence to receive honorarycitizenship of the Tuscan capital on Wednesday, September 3.