BOSTON PRAYS FOR PEACE IN COLOMBIA

Cardinal Law Leads 1,000 At Mass For A Nation At War.

After 37 years of civil war in Colombia, some 40,000 people have lost their
lives, thousands more have fled, and no solution is in sight. But
yesterday, youths packed a South End church to urge leaders in their
homeland to find a path to peace.

For the second straight year, hundreds filled the Cathedral of the Holy
Cross to celebrate a Mass calling for peace in the war-torn South American
nation. Leading the way were two 20-year-old leaders of the Colombian
Children's Peace Movement, a group that has twice been nominated for the
Nobel Peace Prize.

Organizers of the Mass - all of them Boston-area families of Colombian
descent - raised money to fly the pair to Boston to speak. The best hopes
for an end to the civil war lie with the younger generation of Colombians,
they said.

''It's the only way,'' said Farlis Calle, 20, a leader of the Colombian
Children's Peace Movement who is studying at Santa Monica College in
California. ''Youths bring energy, hope, and vigor. Most of the Colombians
think it's impossible to find peace.''

Calle and other leaders of the children's movement travel the world
spreading the message of peace and raising awareness of Colombia's bloody
conflict. Guerrillas, paramilitary gangs, drug kingpins, and the government
are locked in a decades-old war for control of the country.

Last year, the US Congress passed a $1.3 billion ''Plan Colombia,'' mostly
aimed at trying to halt the country's drug trade.

Many among the 1,000 people at the Mass have relatives who remain in the
country, where unemployment is high and social services barely exist.

''Welfare doesn't exist in my country,'' said Monica Vanegas of Everett,
part of a group called Voices In Action, which is rallying local
Colombians. ''The minimum wage is hardly enough to pay for transportation
to go to work.''

Cardinal Bernard F. Law celebrated the Mass, speaking in both English and
Spanish. He called on the federal government to grant temporary protective
status to Colombians fleeing to the United States.

Many waved Colombian flags as a choir sang songs and hymns in Spanish
during the Mass.

''We pray for freedom, for human rights, for reconciliation, for peace for
Colombia,'' said Law, whose processional was led by teenagers dressed in
colorful scarves and long skirts of Colombian tradition. ''These brothers
and sisters need our help.''

About 30,000 people of Colombian descent live in Massachusetts, according
to 1999 figures from the state Office of Refugee and Immigrant Health. But
that number is probably an undercount, given that many Colombians are
undocumented or don't speak English.

A growing number of Colombians live in East Boston. One of them,
21-year-old Johnny Giraldo, said it is up to young Colombians to repair
what the warring adults have begun.

''Even though we're far from our country, we're still the future of our
country,'' he said.

''By us being outside of our country and doing positive things here,
hopefully it will inspire change.''