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LOSSERVATORE-VENEZUELA Jul-8-2010 (390 words) With photo. xxxi
Venezuelan cardinal target of 'verbal aggression,' says Vatican paper
By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican newspaper weighed in on an increasingly hostile war-of-words being waged by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez against Caracas Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino.
L'Osservatore Romano reported July 8 that Cardinal Urosa has been the target of "unspeakable verbal aggression" by Chavez.
The president has recently "thrown fuel on the fire concerning church-state relations" -- most notably with remarks he made during a televised event celebrating the beginning of the country's bicentennial anniversary of independence July 5, said the newspaper.
Local media reported that Chavez called the cardinal a pig and said the cardinal "talks like a troglodyte and he tries to scare people about communism."
Chavez also reportedly said he would prefer that Bishop Mario Moronta Rodriguez of San Cristobal de Venezuela replace Cardinal Urosa.
The Vatican newspaper said the very serious insults came after the cardinal recently denounced the government shutdown of many media outlets critical of Chavez and urged the government to respect the democratic rights guaranteed in the country's constitution.
The newspaper and Vatican Radio both reported how Catholic leaders in Venezuela have rallied behind the cardinal, saying he has every right to express his concerns about the direction the country is taking and to guide Catholics on religious and moral values.
In a July 7 statement released on the archdiocesan website, Cardinal Urosa said the president has no right to insult, defame or slander any Venezuelan citizen, adding that it was unjust that he has been subject to verbal aggression in the public sphere.
The cardinal reiterated his fears that the president was leading the country down the path of Marxist socialism and creating a dictatorship. He said the church does not presume to play a political role but that it does have a right to speak out about things that affect the life and future of the Venezuelan people.
"We desire what's best, social harmony and progress for Venezuela with opportunities for all people," he wrote.
Venezuelan Catholic leaders have been among the harshest critics of the policies of Chavez, who was first elected in 1998 and has promised to transform the oil-rich nation into a socialist state. Church officials have accused the Chavez government of violating civil rights, permitting an explosion of crime and weakening democracy. Chavez, in turn, has accused the church leadership of elitism.
END
Copyright (c) 2010 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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