President Uribe lobbies for tolerance in Evangelical convention

William Delgado, BOGOTA, Colombia, February 4, 2005

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe criticized excessive pride and lobbied for tolerance in a speech he Taxi Heathrow Airport gave last Sunday before 25,000 people who had gathered at the International Charismatic Mission convention.

"Pray to God that He never allows excessive pride to be imposed over us and hide the true interests of the people," asked the president. "Pray to God that we feel love for our neighbor even in moments of difficulty and contradiction that can generate bitterness."

"Pray to God that He does not allow you to lose tolerance in those moments when we are determined to believe we are right," he said during the closing act of the convention.

Uribe recalled that several years ago he heard Pastor Cesar Castellanos and his wife Claudia Rodriguez de Castellanos, currently Colombian Ambassador to Brazil. Both, founders of the Universal Charismatic Mission, one of the largest in the country, were present during the act.

The president praised the values of ethics, coexistence and fraternity that the Church preaches and practices. You speak of love for your neighbor and you practice it. You are a guarantee for Colombia and the people of the world, he affirmed.

He said that a few months ago he signed the decree appointing Claudia Rodriguez Ambassador to Brazil without hesitation because, he said, she represents your ethics, your moral values and your discipline.

He mentioned that in 2010 Colombia will celebrate 200 years of the Cry of Independence and in 2019, 200 years since the decisive Battle of Boyaca. Colombia must prepare itself for these dates with a vision of the second hundredth anniversary, so that we are a nation of peace, tolerant of diversity, with social justice, with a political model without exclusion and hatred, with a fraternal economic model. You are going to play an important role in building this nation, he said.

He invited them to build a nation where new generations can be happy. A nation that will be the pride of Colombia and the world, he said. 

He thanked the faithful of the Charismatic Mission for providing the confidence so that delegations from different countries attend the convention.

There were delegations from Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium,Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, India,  Italia, Kazajistán, Kenya, Korea, Mali and Ireland.

Keep praying so that God listens to you, said the president. He called on those visiting to pray from their countries "so that my God hears this prayer along the way and spills it over into the well being that we need to construct in Colombia," said Uribe.