The parishes of Venezuela, the quieter opponent of Chavismo – 28/01/2019

The resurgence of opposition in Venezuela exalted the spirit of some pro-government sectors, and one of the goals of the latent anger was to dispel the Catholic Church, which generally plays a very active role in popular protests against Nicolás Maduro. Last Sunday, while parishioners gathered in Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, Maracaibo, Zulia, a group of armed chavists burst in and destroyed the place and fired into the village. Air to scare people. fear that violence will spread.

"They entered people who identified with the Madurai and they destroyed the decoration of the church, they desecrated the most holy sacrament, they fired shots in the middle of the temple to disperse the believers who were in The Eucharist Father Andry Sánchez, his priest and pastor of the parish, was attacked, "said a local priest through social networks. "We already recognize and we know who did it," he added, referring to "the leaders of the PSUV, in the municipality of San Francisco."

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This is one of the first acts of this type, marking the division and dangerous confrontation that is stirring the spirits in Venezuela. "I am worried because the respect for the sacred, the temple has been lost, after that we can expect," lamented priest Andry Sánchez, victim of shock groups.

The truth is that the Venezuelan episcopate has for a long time condemned the serious situation in the most modest sectors of the Caribbean country. In fact, during the 2015 and 2017 marches, nuns and priests could be seen walking with the demonstrators, in an attitude of unusual struggle for the religious.

There is also a particular phenomenon in the mbades of some parishes. During homilies, priests abandon the traditional scripture reading of Bible readings to refer to the country's crisis, advocating in many cases a change of government.

Last Sunday's Mbad at the Church of Chacao had a very marked political tinge. Of course, in this case, the priest had in his first bank the President of Parliament, Juan Guaidó, and his wife. But his homily had an extremely critical content, to end by thanking the Leader of the Opposition for his presence.

In mid-January, after Maduro took his second term, the archbishop emeritus of Caracas, Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino, took a tough stance. "Maduro is de facto the new period in the middle of big problems, so the future of Venezuela is not positive," he said.

In case there are any doubts, he added: "We are living a very special moment, as Nicolás Maduro has been sworn in as the new President for the present period in the midst of great controversy, confronted by the ignorance of many people. , institutions and governments ".

Paradoxically, the critical position of the Venezuelan Catholic Church contrasts with the conciliatory tendency of Pope Francis, who prefers to avoid the direct interrogations of the Maduro regime and the repression, which left 35 dead and more than 300 arrested last week. The language of the Venezuelan episcopate is usually direct, unambiguous, or diplomatic games typical of the Vatican.

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"The church is close to the city because of an evangelical question, it is a mandate from our Lord Jesus Christ, we must be beside the one who suffers, whatever his political tendency," he says. Carlos Márquez, Episcopal Vicar of Catechesis and Formation of the Laity.

In dialogue with Clarín, Márquez saves a particular point: the social work done by the dioceses. "When we and the bishops discuss the situation of poverty in the country, we do it with real data.We are also part of the population, we lack medicines, food.This is not what They tell us, we live it. "

Father Márquez refers in particular to the periodic reports of Caritas Venezuela and the reactions to Chavismo. The last one, in July of last year, warned about the plight of children in the most modest sectors. 65% of the children evaluated – from 0 to 5 years old – were already malnourished or at risk of suffering from it. 13.5% were moderately to severely malnourished, 17.8% mild and 34% were at risk of malnutrition as it had already begun to deteriorate.

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These data are those of the Venezuelan episcopate, which arouses so much anger among bishops, priests and nuns.

Yesterday, on his Twitter account, Cáritas Venezuela also questioned the repression of the last marches. "We deeply regret the death, the pain and the suffering of our people, the number of wounded, dead, arbitrarily detained, tortured and persecuted people who have been committed throughout the country is a violation of dignity and rights of citizens, "they said.

This rebel trend in the Catholic Church is not new. There are many examples both in Central America, with the disputed actions in El Salvador or Nicaragua, as in Conosur. But what strikes, is the discrepancy with the Vatican, that we observe every day more.