Pope leaves Colombia with prayers for peace

Cartagen : Pope Francis left Colombia on Sunday with calls for reconciliation after its half-century civil war and a peaceful end to the deadly crisis in neighboring Venezuela.

The Argentine pope, 80, held the last in a series of open-air masses in the Caribbean city of Cartagena -- one of Colombia's top tourist draws but also one of its poorest cities.

On the last day of his fifth visit as pope to his native continent, he reiterated calls for peace in Colombia and prayed for a peaceful end to Venezuela's "grave crisis."

"I assure all of you of my prayers for each of the countries of Latin America, and in a special way for neighboring Venezuela," Francis said.

"I appeal for the rejection of all violence in political life and for a solution to the current grave crisis, which affects everyone, particularly the poorest and most disadvantaged of society."