A Colombia’s chief of police, General Henry Sanabria, has revealed how the country was able to combat crime by using exorcism and prayer.
General Henry Sanabria, who spent the last 50 years of the South American country’s armed war surrounded by crucifixes, effigies of the Virgin Mary, and other Catholic symbols in his office, told local media on Saturday that these religious practices have assisted the police.
He cited the police operations that resulted in the deaths of Pablo Escobar (1993), Alfonso Cano, head of the FARC guerrillas, in 2011, and his military chief, known as “Mono Jojoy,” in 2010.
“The existence of the devil is certain. I have seen him. I have felt him,” Sanabria said in an interview with Semana magazine, making the sign of the cross at every mention of the devil.
Sanabria asserted that criminals practiced witchcraft and that a police officer had killed a criminal in an operation by “praying while firing.”
In Colombia, a secular country with strong Catholic roots, his comments have ignited heated online disputes.
While reacting to the statement, President Gustavo Petro, stated, “We know the beliefs of the general, but we try to make sure that these beliefs do not affect the rules, it is as simple as that,” he said. “I think he has respected them, as far as we know.”
