US Secretary of State discusses Venezuela with Vatican counterpart

CELAM sent ‘a simple fraternal message full of hope’ to the Church in Venezuela on Monday, emphasising ‘that you are not alone’ and praying for ‘a future of peace, dignity and hope’.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin spoke to the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio after Pope Leo voiced “deep concern” about the attack on Venezuela.

The US State Department said they “discussed pressing challenges, including efforts to improve the humanitarian situation, particularly in Venezuela, as well as the promotion of peace and religious freedom globally” in a conversation on Tuesday.

It said that Rubio and Parolin, who was apostolic nuncio to Venezuela before he was appointed the Vatican’s Secretary of State in 2013, “reaffirmed their commitment to deepening cooperation between the United States and the Holy See in addressing shared priorities around the world”.

Their discussions followed the Pope’s comments at the Angelus on Sunday, the day after US special forces stormed a complex in Caracas to capture Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores while aircraft struck military and civilian targets across the country. 

Maduro and Flores were taken to New York to face narco-terrorism charges. President Donald Trump said the US would “run” Venezuela until there was a “proper” transition of power, and that US companies would access its oil reserves. Governments around the world condemned the attack as a breach of international law.

“The good of the beloved Venezuelan people must prevail over every other consideration,” Leo said in his address after the Angelus in St Peter’s Square. He demanded actions “guaranteeing the sovereignty of the country, ensuring the rule of law enshrined in its constitution, respecting the human and civil rights of each and every person”.

The US Ambassador to the Holy See Brian Burch said Leo had “emphasised the need to work together to build a future for the Venezuelan people based on cooperation, stability and harmony”.

“Thanks to President Trump’s decisive leadership, Maduro will now face justice,” he said. On Monday, Maduro and Flores appeared in a New York court before the 92-year-old Judge Alvin Hellerstein. Maduro denied all charges. “I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the president of my country,” he said, and told and onlooker: “I am a man of God.”

In a message on Saturday, Venezuela’s bishops urged their people to “live intensely in hope and fervent prayer for peace” and to reject “any type of violence”. The words appeared in bold type in a printed message.

“May our hands be open to working for encounter and mutual aid,” they continued, adding also in bold type, “and may decisions that are taken always be done for the well-being of our people.”

The Latin American bishops’ council CELAM sent “a simple fraternal message full of hope” to the Church in Venezuela on Monday, emphasising “that you are not alone” and praying with the Pope for “a future of peace, dignity and hope”.

“CELAM is journeying with you and with the people of Venezuela, supporting every effort to build bridges, heal wounds and advance in reconciliation, without excluding anyone. The Church is called to be an open house, a space for meeting and a calm voice that encourages hope, even among difficulties,” the message said.

“We believe firmly that journeying together, listening to each other with respect and searching for the common good is the path the Lord offers us today. Where there is truth, justice, mercy and care for the most fragile, God shows himself once more as he did in Bethlehem.”

In Chile, the bishops’ conference asked Catholics to pray for Venezuela, while two bodies representing the Church in the Amazon, REPAM and CEAMA, issued a message on Sunday declaring “our solidarity with the people of Venezuela in view of the current events that increase violence, deepen instability and continue to violate the nation’s democratic principles”.

“Any attitude of warlike intervention from outside threatens peace and opens the door to a confrontation of greater proportions in a setting of high military and political tension that threatens regional stability,” it said.

“This current and future complex situation challenges us as the Church in the Amazon region to be more united than ever and strengthen our commitment to peace, human rights and socio-environmental justice.”

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