Pope Francis is heading into an area once besieged by leftist rebels to pray with victims of Colombia's long conflict and urge them to overcome their grief by forgiving their former assailants.
The highlight of his visit to the central city of Villavicencio on Friday is what the Vatican has termed a "great prayer meeting for national reconciliation".
It's bound to be a deeply emotional gathering for Francis, who has made reconciliation the central theme of his five-day visit to Colombia after promising to visit the country upon the signing of last year's peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
The event will be attended by thousands of victims from all walks of life: soldiers who lost limbs clearing land mines, mothers whose children were forcibly recruited by the rebels never to be seen again and farmers driven off their land by right-wing paramilitary groups.
Former rebels are also expected to attend but the Vatican and Colombian organisers have given no indication that the FARC leadership will attend, or even meet with the Pope during his visit, reflecting the freshness of the conflict's wounds and the sensitivities stirred by any public appearance of former guerrillas still despised by wide swathes of the population.
Presiding over the event will be a mutilated Christ statue rescued from a bombed-out church 15 years ago - perhaps the most powerful reminder of the senseless political violence that left more than 250,000 people dead and millions displaced.
At a Mass in Villavicencio, Francis will beatify two priests intimately identified with Colombia's conflict. The Pope said they were killed out of hatred for their faith.
