Â鶹Éç

Ship of Fools / Colombia

More than three million people have been forced to flee their homes in the South American country of Colombia, for the poverty of shanty towns. They've been trying to escape a war which has raged for 40 years. In this major centre of cocaine production, thousands have been taken hostage and paramilitary death squads have murdered many community leaders - pastors and priests among them.

On All Things Considered this week (Sunday 13 April at 08.31am, repeated on Wednesday 16 April 6.32pm). Roy Jenkins talks to Archbishop Ruben Salazar who leads the Catholic Church's campaign for a negotiated peace in his country, and has been outspoken in denouncing poverty as one of the root causes of the conflict.

He also meets Mgr Héctor Fabio, who co-ordinates the Church's work for peace and reconciliation. He has been involved in negotiations with many different groups - and had to spend several months in exile a few years ago after threats against his life.

Also in the programme, and on a lighter note, we mark the tenth anniversary of 'Ship of Fools', the Christian website which has brought us such delights at St. Pixels the on-line church for people who prefer to worship in front of their computers; The Laugh Judgement, a competition to find the most offensive and funny religious jokes; and a Big Brother-style reality gameshow based on Noah's Ark.

The 'Ship of Fools' website is the successor to a magazine of the same name launched 30 years ago, and we meet the two Welshmen who were among its original editors: Simon Jenkins, a writer and designer who's still at the helm; and Iwan Russell Jones, now a documentary film maker with Â鶹Éç Wales.

For further information


Bookmark this page:

Listen online

A new look for Â鶹Éç Radio online: listen live on your computer - and now on your smartphone.

Mal Pope replays highlights from this week's programmes on Radio Wales, and delves into the archive.

Â鶹Éç iD

Â鶹Éç navigation

Â鶹Éç © 2014 The Â鶹Éç is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.