Colombia is a nation on a journey from conflict to peace, a nation attempting to stop the never-ending cycle of violence, which has been a struggle for over 50 years. It is a complex nation and situation, which led to a civil war of over five decades, devastating the civilian population. Efforts to peacefully resolve the conflict have resulted in partial agreements that last only for short periods. Yet, there is one person who understands that, to achieve lasting peace, the country must address the anger and fear fueling the Colombian conflict.

From Fear to Forgiveness

Fr. Leonel Narváez Gómez is someone who has worked tirelessly in Colombia’s peacebuilding efforts. Narváez, a Colombian Catholic priest who participated very closely in the peace negotiations with the leftist guerrillas in Colombia, is deeply committed to the work of forgiveness around the world. He was born in Génova, a village near Medellín, in the same town where the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and its leader were born. Narváez later developed a significant relationship with the FARC leader, Tiro Fijo, in which he was able to rescue dozens of young boys and girls under the age of 18 from the movement.

The area surrounding Medellín was a very violent and dangerous region of the country, and for 12 years Narváez was in danger of being kidnapped. Memories have haunted Narváez. When he was a very young boy, his father’s sugar cane factory was set on fire and destroyed one night by his father’s enemy. What Narváez remembered most was watching the factory burn at 2 a.m. in the morning, fearing that the source of the family’s income would be destroyed. That memory and his anger lingered on for years, and due to this childhood memory, Narváez realized the importance of developing a process for overcoming memory, a process he now teaches others when discussing forgiveness and reconciliation.

The Pull of Powerful Emotions

Narváez’s interest in political forgiveness has a long history. When the 1998 and 2001 negotiations in El Caguán failed, Narváez realized that something was missing. People were negotiating with a lot of anger and hate behind their words, fueling conflict, violence, and the urge for revenge. He understood that, for sustainable peace to be achieved, a solution was needed to address the pull of these powerful emotions. With a background in negotiation, and with the support of experts in various disciplines, including research into forgiveness, Narváez developed a program which was later known as Schools of Forgiveness and Reconciliation (SFR) or Escuelas de Perdon y Reconciliacion (ESPERE), which became the cornerstone of the Fundación Para La Reconciliación or Foundation for Reconciliation, which he founded. ESPERE (es-PEER-ay) was formed to promote forgiveness and reconciliation, and to offer groups of Colombians an opportunity to come together and develop processes that support individuals affected by violence.

What makes the ESPERE program different in terms of an individual forgiveness process is that it links the work of individual forgiveness, an interior process, with a process rooted in the principles of truth, justice, pacts, and memory. The purpose of the initiative was to see how the participants’ emotional development and patterns of social interaction were affected by their experiences. The hope was that when people could share their stories, the narratives could change, and the need for revenge would dissipate, allowing people to move toward reconciliation.

ESPERE Stories

Many forgiveness stories have emerged from the work of ESPERE. Some cases include working with people involved in serious crimes, such as killing a relative, and how they learned to forgive themselves and be forgiven. Another example includes a widow who lost her only son and then adopted the killer of her son. There are other stories, such as an owner of an enterprise who gave employment to his kidnappers—the owner even paid the lawyers not to prosecute them. Yet another story involves an ex-combatant who was attacked during one of the raids and was wounded. His life is now in a wheelchair.

He participated in the Schools of Forgiveness and Reconciliation (SFR) workshop, which taught him how to forgive. Due to his experience in the program, he has now dedicated his life to working with the foundation, and has become a powerful testimony for forgiveness. It is hoped that, in time, Colombia will constitute a national system of reconciliation in which victims of the war, ex-combatants, children and young people in educational establishments, and the population in general will participate in the promotion of cultures of peace, developing agendas for forgiveness.

The ultimate objective of the SFR program is to create communities of peace that heal the wounds of conflict, foster forgiveness and reconciliation, and thereby enable peace to flourish and prevent unrest from happening again. The premise behind the program is that if we do not heal from our psychological wounds, cycles of violence will continue to perpetuate themselves.

The ESPERE program’s methodology has been adopted in numerous countries worldwide. An international network has emerged, sharing experiences, results, and concerns that arise from members’ activities in the field of forgiveness and reconciliation. Members of the network have worked with prison populations, young offenders, victims of political and domestic violence, the reintegration of illegal armed actors, and with young people who suffer abuse in schools. In each of these areas, it has been possible to develop a series of specific methodological designs that, while preserving the general principles of ESPERE, are tailored to the particular circumstances of the target population group.

The Inner Embrace

The concept of forgiveness is about graciousness. It is a gift we give to one another. Forgiveness touches the most existential question of life. What is life for? Life is a gift, and it is also a gift to others. Therefore, forgiveness is not just about forgiving an offense. The real motivation is that by forgiving the offense, you become much more; you become a gift to humanity. That is the most profound meaning of life.

The healing capacity of forgiveness is powerful, and when we allow ourselves to reach its depth we begin to tap into forces that enable us to see the spiritual nature within ourselves and within others. This essence must shine, and it does. It shines within our thoughts, helping us to see the spiritual substance in all of us, in qualities like kindness, generosity, helpfulness, and selfless love. Instead of fearfully looking for signs of trouble, instead of labeling people as victimizers, or victims, or even terrorists, we can humbly see what the light of divine love illuminates. Seeing clearly is only possible as we know the truth of who we are, our spiritual essence. Seeing clearly will enable us to be that light of the world—to shine with the love that illuminates the dark places and wipes out fear, hatred, and misunderstanding. And the same love that lights our way shows us where and how we can best shine the light for others in our communities, because when one person is shining the light, everyone around can see too.

To learn more about ESPERE and the work of Fr. Leonel Narváez, enjoy the Political Forgiveness episode, “The Priest and the Guerrilla Fighter” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.