Vatican City, Jun 8, 2017 / 04:14 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- After a last-minute meeting with Pope Francis Thursday to discuss the dire situation of their country, Venezuela’s bishops said they have his full support in facing the trials of a regime they say oppresses its people to maintain power.
“The government has as a goal to maintain power at the cost of the life of any person at all costs,” Archbishop Diego Padrón Sanchez of Cumana told journalists June 8.
Not only this, but the government “has the desire, the will, the scope, to have a submissive, silent people that doesn’t protest,” he said. And to ensure that this happens, society must be made up of a people who have “no food, no medicine (and) which spends every moment trying to resolve daily problems.”
“A people that is oppressed, suffering and sick doesn’t have the strength to raise itself in revolt against anyone,” he said.
Archbishop Padrón spoke to a group of journalists after the leadership of the Venezuelan bishops conference met with Pope Francis and other Vatican officials earlier that morning.
The meeting was not planned in advance, and was not included in the weekly schedule sent out by the Vatican’s Secretariat for Communications. Announced just days before, the conversation was squeezed into the Pope’s agenda before his meeting with the Panamanian bishops, who are in Rome for their ad limina visit, and a meeting with Nigeria’s bishops.
During the meeting, Archbishop Padrón said they discussed the ongoing crisis in the country, and that the conversation was very “cordial, very simple, fraternal” and relaxed. The Pope asked questions, and the bishops were able to answer freely.
The Pope is “very well informed” on the situation, the archbishop said, explaining that Francis himself said he receives a daily update on what is going on.
Francis voiced his closeness to the bishops and the “people who are suffering,” the archbishop said, recalling that Francis was “very moved” by the description of some of the cases they’ve witnessed in recent days.
Venezuela is currently undergoing a humanitarian emergency in which fundamental necessities are inaccessible and many, including children, die due to the lack of basic foods and medicines.
The country has been ruled by a socialist government since 1999. In the wake of Nicolas Maduro succeeding Hugo Chavez as president in 2013, Venezuela has been marred by violence and social and economic upheaval. Poor economic policies, including strict price controls, coupled with high inflation rates, have resulted in a severe lack of basic necessities such as toilet paper, milk, flour, diapers and medicines.
The socialist government is widely blamed for the crisis. Since 2003, price controls on some 160 products, including cooking oil, soap and flour, have meant that while they are affordable, they fly off store shelves only to be resold on the black market at much higher rates.
The Venezuelan government is known to be among the most corrupt in Latin America, and violent crime in the country has spiked since Maduro took office.
The regime is known to have committed gross abuses, including violence, against those who don’t share their political ideologies, and are accused of taking many political prisoners.
Archbishop Padrón said that for the bishops, their “Magna Carta” on how to move forward in the crisis is the letter Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin sent them in December, in which he indicated the conditions under which dialogue with the Maduro regime ought to be carried out.
The four conditions listed by Cardinal Parolin are: the assurance of a humanitarian corridor for food and medicine; respect for and the re-establishment of the National Assembly; the release of political prisoners; and the guarantee of elections.
While Venezuelans had been protesting many of Maduro’s moves for some time, the final straw for many was when in late March the president announced his decision to call a constitutional assembly and and to revoke the power of the National Assembly, which had been in the hands of the opposition since 2015.
Part of Maduro’s guarantee was that after the constitutional assembly takes place July 30, elections will finally be held in December.
However, Archbishop Padrón said he doesn’t have faith in the regime, and believes the deal is “a trap” for the people, because during the July assembly “you can easily vote to annul or not the elections in December. So the December date is just an imaginary figure for the people.”
But even though they have very real problems with Maduro, Archbishop Padrón said this doesn’t mean that the bishops are on the side of the opposition.
“We don’t represent any party, and we don’t want to be on the side of the government or the opposition,” he said. “We want to help the people.”
The bishops came “to present to the Holy Father the situation of the Venezuelan people, whether they are those people who are close to the government, or those who feel far from the government. We don’t have any preference in this sense.”
During the meeting, the prelates gave the Pope two dossiers, the first containing a list of some 70 people, mostly youth, who have been killed during protests in Caracas and other cities throughout Venezuela. The second document was a detailed outline of the work the bishops conference has done so far to help alleviate the crisis.
After meeting with the Pope, who gave the bishops his “full support” and “total confidence” in their efforts, the six prelates present for the encounter then met with Cardinal Parolin, who before becoming Secretary of State was the apostolic nuncio to Venezuela for four years.
They later met with officials of the Vatican’s charitable organization Caritas Internationalis, which is offering concrete support to needy families on the ground in Venezuela.
Pope Francis specifically told the bishops to “reinforce” the work that Caritas does, not only for the Venezuela branch, but the international organization as a whole, because they are “ready to help” in acquiring and distributing food and mostly medicines to the people.
However, the bishops conference still faces issues when it comes to getting medicines to the people, Archbishop Padrón said. Even though the government technically gave them permission to distribute medication a few weeks ago, the conditions outlined in the fine print make it nearly impossible to do.
The government does this, he said, because they don’t want to appear “insensitive” or as “a needy country.”
“The international image of the government must be maintained,” he observed.
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May each and every child be blessed with love, joy, health, and happiness worldwide.
“These children — there were many of them! — filled my heart with joy. I repeat: ‘No child is a mistake,’” he said. These are the words of Pope Francis and they are words that have the potential of bearing truth. To be fully actualized, the Pope should now DO something about it. And here’s my suggestion which is only one of many.
Let Francis say to all the bishops in every diocese of the world that each diocese should announce that any women in a crisis pregnancy can contact any diocese of the Catholic Church and, if they are considering an abortion, the diocese will provide medical assistance, housing if necessary, a job and adoption services if the woman feels that she is unable to care for her baby throughout its childhood.
Francis should offer concrete services to women in crisis pregancies if he truly believes that no child is a mistake. Words mean nothing if not attached to specific acts. In that case they remain just words.
He would never do that. What he believes or what he thinks he believes varies with his petulant moods. He could never betray all the pro-aborts of whom he is often so enamored.
An effective way to combat the killings is to publicize this video in youtube from Dr. Anthony Levatino M.D. Gynecologist Obstetrician and former abortionist detailing the horrors of abortion procedures at the different stages of pregnancy. Show it especially to young women who are not told in school the true details of abortion at the different stages; in this video age this is a most effective way to combat the killings:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFZDhM5Gwhk&t=269s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFZDhM5Gwhk&t=269s
Maybe the Pope can have a word with my mom who made it beyond clear that if she had her way I would’ve been aborted and reminds every day that I am a mistake. This might be the New Year’s Eve I finally end my own life. I am tired of knowing I should not exist.
Your value as a human being doesn’t depend on what other people say, think, or do. Maybe a better goal for the new year would be to get rid of the toxic people in your life and focus your efforts on being the best version of yourself possible. Living well is the best revenge.
Jane, never think that. Your Mom sounds like an emotionally disturbed person and you cannot take your sense of self from someone like that. No matter that she is your mother. There are numbers of people who are too damaged to be fit parents. You are of value to God, and to others you may not even yet know. We can never know what it is that God has in store for us. Your purpose may not yet have been revealed to you.
I was totally devastated when I couldnt have children.The sadness went on for years. But thanks to God, I now have two sons who are now grown men. My husband and I adopted them both.God bless their birth mothers. Two children were never more wanted and I cannot express how very lucky were were to be able to adopt them. Better than hitting a huge lotto prize. Better than anything that had ever happened to us. Every life is here to impact others for a purpose God designates. My youngest is now a paramedic who has saved lives in the course of his job. That is making a difference with your life.
My husband died young and unexpectedly, and it was a heartbreak for us. I mostly raised my sons alone. It was not how I pictured my life was going to be and it was a struggle for a long time. We hit many bumps in the road along the way. Fast forward 20 years. My boys are men. I am happy and have friends and activities that , at my lowest point after my husband’s death , I could not have imagined.
Every day gives us a change at a new beginning. Every day is a fresh start. Imagine your future and grab it with both hands. It may take some time but you CAN get there. Please try. Because it’s likely that God plans for you to have a positive impact on others. “How” may not even be evident at this moment. You may be making a difference right now and not know it. Only God can see the whole picture. Our job is to keep trying.
It may be helpful for you to talk to a professional about how you feel. They can give you techniques for handling your relationship with your mother, and help you find your own strong sense of self. Fight for who you want to be. Dont let anyone else paint your own picture.
Remember what they say in the movie,” Its a Wonderful Life”?——- “Strange, isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many other lives. When he isn’t around, he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?”
Stay around and discover who God wants you to be. I will pray for you. Don’t give up. Find a new path. Lean on God, who always loves you.
Please don’t give up in finding the self-esteem God wants for you. Everyone here at CWR among readers and commenters and editors will pray for you.
My own story includes a sadly ignorant father who told me similar things, and rather than encourage me, always told me I’d fail at everything. Well, I acquired four degrees and accomplished much in my field. I was also a successful athlete in my youth. But it did take a long time to have a positive self-image, which only came about after overcoming my atheism. Never lose sight of the fact that God loves you as if you were the only one He ever created.
The greatest souls who ever lived became close to God and many had to overcome backgrounds of tragic hardship. You have my prayers.
Oh dear, God loves you, and I do too. You are not a mistake. Turn to the Blessed Mother and ask for her intercession to help you heal from all that pain.
Please pray for your mother. That you are reading this site shows that you can actually be an example to her and others. We are all praying for you. As many have pointed out here, you are of value to God and will be of value to others in need of one kind of another, even in need of a kind word or a smile or a question of how they are doing. Again, you are of value to God and to your fellow men and women.