Freed hostage Betancourt to visit Lourdes shrine

PARIS – Freed Franco-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt, a devout Catholic who prayed daily during six years in captivity, will visit the shrine of Lourdes in southwest France this week, a source close to her said yesterday.

Betancourt, who was held in the Colombian jungle by guerrillas of the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, has compared her rescue by the Colombian army last week to a miracle. Media reports in France at the weekend said she would go to Lourdes during her stay and a source close to Betancourt confirmed the visit to Reuters on Monday.The Vatican said last week Pope Benedict, who had called for the release of Colombian hostages including Betancourt, would receive her as soon as his schedule allowed.No date has been set.The shrine at Lourdes is at the site where the Madonna was said to have appeared to a peasant girl in 1858.Millions of pilgrims visit it every year, hoping to benefit from the healing powers associated with its waters.Betancourt emerged from the jungle clutching a wooden rosary which she made during her captivity.A former Colombian presidential candidate who has dual French and Colombian nationality, Betancourt flew to Paris to a hero’s welcome on Friday.She told one newspaper she planned to return to Colombia in the next few days but has not issued detailed plans.The source close to her said she would attend France’s Bastille Day celebrations in Paris on July 14 and would receive the Legion d’Honneur, France’s highest order of merit, from President Nicolas Sarkozy.Betancourt lived in France in her youth and has dual French nationality thanks to a now annulled marriage.France embraced Betancourt as one of its own during her captivity and thousands of French people held marches and demonstrations to campaign for her release.She has given France some of the credit for her rescue, although it was not involved, saying it was partly thanks to French campaigning that the Colombian military decided against a hazardous commando-style rescue.She and 14 other hostages were plucked from the jungle in a daring ruse.Nampa-ReutersMedia reports in France at the weekend said she would go to Lourdes during her stay and a source close to Betancourt confirmed the visit to Reuters on Monday.The Vatican said last week Pope Benedict, who had called for the release of Colombian hostages including Betancourt, would receive her as soon as his schedule allowed.No date has been set.The shrine at Lourdes is at the site where the Madonna was said to have appeared to a peasant girl in 1858.Millions of pilgrims visit it every year, hoping to benefit from the healing powers associated with its waters.Betancourt emerged from the jungle clutching a wooden rosary which she made during her captivity.A former Colombian presidential candidate who has dual French and Colombian nationality, Betancourt flew to Paris to a hero’s welcome on Friday.She told one newspaper she planned to return to Colombia in the next few days but has not issued detailed plans.The source close to her said she would attend France’s Bastille Day celebrations in Paris on July 14 and would receive the Legion d’Honneur, France’s highest order of merit, from President Nicolas Sarkozy.Betancourt lived in France in her youth and has dual French nationality thanks to a now annulled marriage.France embraced Betancourt as one of its own during her captivity and thousands of French people held marches and demonstrations to campaign for her release.She has given France some of the credit for her rescue, although it was not involved, saying it was partly thanks to French campaigning that the Colombian military decided against a hazardous commando-style rescue.She and 14 other hostages were plucked from the jungle in a daring ruse.Nampa-Reuters