March (Web-only) 2002

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Colombia archbishop murdered
Isaias Duarte, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Cali, was gunned down Saturday after denouncing connections between drug traffickers and leftist guerrillas. "We presume this was the work of drug traffickers," says church official German Robledo.

Bogota-based political analyst Fernando Giraldo says it's not terribly surprising. "When you say you have evidence, you are putting a target on your chest," he tells the Houston Chronicle. "The archbishop knew that (traffickers) could get him."

The city—and the rest of the country—is upset but feels helpless. "It's sad that we have gotten so used to these kinds of crimes. Nothing really surprises me anymore," a construction worker tells The Washington Post.

Tony Hall will leave Congress for U.N.
Among politicians elected to national office, perhaps no one is more beloved by evangelical leaders than Tony Hall. Organization from Sojourners to the Christian Coalition have praised his integrity and stances (though the Christian Coalition voters guides sometimes gave him low ratings for his votes on welfare reform and other issues).

"Tony Hall is not a typical denizen of Capitol Hill," Frederica Mathewes-Green wrote in a 1997 Christianity Today profile of the Ohio Democrat. "Compared to the other shining lights, he presents a modest display: practical, industrious, and determined. … Yet this unpretentious man could represent a model for a new way of doing politics, offering hope to Christians weary of the clumsy fit offered by current partisan alignments."

But Tony Hall will be a denizen of Capitol Hill no longer. President Bush has nominated him to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations' food and agriculture agencies. "It's a job that's right down my alley, ...