Venezuelan Plelates defied Pope over efforts to oust Chavez

[BridgeTheGap]

WASHINGTON — Pope John Paul II, who was fast-tracked for sainthood earlier this year, ordered Venezuela's clergy to stay out of efforts to topple President Hugo Chavez nearly 10 years ago but Venezuela's church hierarchy defied him, with the encouragement of the administration of then-President George W. Bush, secret documents show.

State Department cables that WikiLeaks obtained and shared with McClatchy Newspapers and other news organizations indicate that church officials at the Vatican briefed U.S. diplomats on the pope's concerns but acknowledged that the country's Roman Catholic bishops were likely to ignore the orders.

Nearly a decade later, relations between Chavez and the church remain chilly, and the cables provide insight into how the antipathy became so deep: Catholic prelates not only were trying to unseat Chavez, but also were willing to defy directions from the pope to do so.

"The Holy See is concerned about the prospect of civil violence in Venezuela in the coming months, and the pope himself has urged the Venezuelan bishops to 'cool it' on political activism and instead to encourage dialogue," said a confidential cable that Jim Nicholson, who was then the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, sent Nov. 19, 2002, to the State Department.

Read more: http://www.thestate.com/2011/06/21/1868630/venezuelan-prelates-defied-pope.html#ixzz1Q23MYGFT

[formercia]

1. This is a surprise.

I would have thought that Ratzinger would have encouraged them, considering his past history. The Church hierarchy in most Latin American countries have close ties to the Right-Wing Reactionaries. Those that deviate, Like Romero in El-Salvador, risk their lives in doing so.

[LeftishBrit]

3. This was not the current Pope, but the late Pope John Paul II.

[nichomachus]

2. Fantastic

Siding with the Franco regime doomed the church in Spain to be a curiosity factor. It still makes noise, but no young people take it seriously.

When Ratzi the Nazi went to Barcelona to dedicate the Sagrada Familia a few months ago, thousands of young people demonstrated outside and same-sex couples held a massive kiss-in.

Let's hope this fascism does the same in Venezuela.