Amid U.S. intervention and rising tensions, Venezuelan bishops struggle to unite voices between calls for reform and defense of national sovereignty.
Newsroom (18/02/2026 Gaudium Press ) When Venezuela’s Catholic bishops finally convened in Caracas after weeks of political turbulence, their message was one of both hope and hesitation. The Venezuelan Episcopal Conference (CEV), meeting for the first time since the United States seized President Nicolás Maduro on January 3 and brought him to trial in New York, issued a measured document that laid bare Venezuela’s suffering but stopped short of taking a unified political stance.
The statement depicted a country decimated by decades of crisis — “widespread impoverishment, corruption, and rights violations” — describing the erosion of basic services, education, and public safety. Yet, while it expressed solidarity with political prisoners and emphasized the need to restore democracy, it avoided overt criticism of the U.S. military operation that reshaped the nation’s political order.
A Divided Church in a Divided Country
This middle-ground approach reflected deep divisions within the Venezuelan Church itself. Some clergy, such as Father Gerardo Moreno of the Diocese of Trujillo, viewed the document as a gesture of reconciliation. “It’s a new dawn to be pursued — a dawn of hope,” he told Crux, emphasizing the bishops’ call for national rebuilding and social healing.
The episcopate, Moreno argued, sought to guide Venezuelans toward participation in rebuilding institutions: restoring judicial independence, reforming electoral bodies, and promoting a broad amnesty to free political detainees. But critics on both political poles were not convinced.
Caught Between Radical Reform and Nationalism
Opposition-aligned groups, including legal scholars such as Professor Tulio Álvarez‑Ramos from the Central University of Venezuela, pressed the bishops to go further. They wanted explicit demands for constitutional reform, repeal of repressive laws, and Venezuela’s reentry into the Inter‑American Human Rights System. While the CEV’s letter nodded to these aspirations, it softened their tone — a decision that disappointed sectors hoping for a more forceful denunciation of Chavismo.
Meanwhile, pro‑government voices accused the bishops of complicity with foreign powers. Jesuit Father Numa Molina — a prominent Chavista figure — delivered one of the harshest rebukes, condemning the episcopate for failing to challenge Washington’s actions. “It is unforgivable that at this terrifying moment, when Venezuelan sovereignty was attacked, the bishops do not courageously condemn U.S. aggression,” he said.
The Shadow of Oil and Intervention
One of the most contentious omissions in the document concerned Venezuela’s oil sector, now under U.S. management following Maduro’s ousting. The bishops referenced the moral complexities of resource wealth, calling oil “both a blessing and a curse,” but avoided any direct comment on Washington’s control over the industry.
That silence revealed the Church’s strategic caution. Confronting the U.S. occupation too directly risked alienating Western allies or destabilizing the fragile humanitarian channels that still supply Venezuelans with aid. Yet avoiding the topic also alienated many faithful who view sovereignty as sacred.
Faith, Politics, and a Search for Common Ground
The episcopate’s message underscored a paradox: the Church remains one of Venezuela’s few institutions capable of moral leadership, yet it, too, is constrained by political fault lines. Its call for unity — extending to Venezuelans “at home and abroad, regardless of ideology or party” — reflected both the yearning for reconciliation and the difficulty of realizing it in a polarized nation.
For now, the bishops appear focused on fostering dialogue rather than confrontation. Whether that approach will help guide Venezuela through its post‑intervention transition — or render the Church irrelevant in the country’s struggle for sovereignty — remains uncertain.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Crux Now
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