Posted on 01/25/2006 10:34:34 AM PST by Pyro7480
Venezuela nearing Marxist dictatorship, cardinal says
Jan. 16 (CNA/CWNews.com) - In one his harshest criticisms to date of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Cardinal Rosalio Castillo Lara accused that country’s government of having “lost its way” and of showing “signs of dictatorship.”
The retired Salesian cardinal presided at the traditional procession of the Divine Shepherdess—a popular Marian devotion that draws millions of people every year—through the downtown streets of Barquisimeto. Although he focused most of his homily on Marian devotion and the Catholic roots of Venezuela, Cardinal Lara launched his criticism of the Chavez regime at the end of his remarks. “On this solemn occasion I ask that we all together fervently pray to the Divine Shepherdess to save Venezuela,” the cardinal said. “We are facing an extremely grave situation like few others in our history.”
"A government democratically elected seven years ago has lost its democratic way and shows signs of dictatorship, where all powers are in the hands of one person who exercises them in an arbitrary and despotic way," Cardinal Castillo added, “not for the purposes of bringing about the greater common good of the nation, but rather for a twisted and archaic political project: that of implanting in Venezuela a disastrous regime like the one Fidel Castro has imposed on Cuba, at the cost of so many human lives and the progress of his nation.”
“The seven years of this government,” he warned, “provide abundant proof of what the future of Venezuela will be like if this regime continues in power.”
Pointing to the risks of a continuing Chavez government, Cardinal Lara noted that “dissidence, which is barely tolerated, is in many cases persecuted. Courts hand down unjust sentences in the name of the law. There are dozens of political prisoners, while common crime increases and reaps a tragic sum of 10,000 murders per year. Corruption—which they promised to radically eliminate— is spreading in the face of silence and complacent inaction by the General Comptroller of the Republic, resulting in the creation of thousands of new millionaires. At the same time, poverty is increasing, unemployment is widespread,” the cardinal stated.
Cardinal Lara also warned that “the extremely high price of oil, which would allow many problems to be solved, is being used instead to fund multi-million dollar gifts to obtain uncertain political loyalty from other nations, while in Venezuela we are painfully feeling the lack of interventions and projects to equip hospitals with what they need, to repair communication channels and city streets, to build housing and schools.”
Cardinal Lara said a future with Chavez would be “a very grave situation that could be compared to the cholera outbreak of 150 years ago that led to the miraculous intervention of the Divine Shepherdess.”
“If the Venezuelan people fail to grasp the seriousness of the situation and fail to categorically speak out in favor of democracy and freedom, we will find ourselves subjected to a Marxist-style dictatorship,” Cardinal Lara said in conclusion.
Try not to confuse the Church in the United States, which accounts for little more than 5% of Catholics worldwide, and its problems with the Church in the rest of the world. In South America, the Catholic Church is quite influential. Many of the people there are at least culturally Catholic and regard the Church's voice with a good deal of respect.
Of course. But that doesn't preclude asking your friends to pray for you, or better yet, asking the saints in Heaven to pray for you.
Revelation 5:8After all, the prayer of a righteous man "availeth much." And if Mary now reigns as Queen of Heaven, so much more must her prayers avail.And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
Revelation 12:1A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.
http://www.jennymiller.com/images/sexisgood.jpg
Pedophile priests for life?!
I salute this Cardinal's braveness in the face of a lunatic leader of his country. Bravo, dear Cardinal; keep it up. Let's see how repressive this Chavez really is. Will he now go after the Catholic church leaders? Time will tell.
Hey! You stole my "post".
Nice hat on the good padre. Looks like he's doing a fair Humphrey Bogart impression.
Golly, it couldn't be someone impersonating a priest, could it? That would be, like, unheard of!
True enough ;) Also far too many people forget the Holy Spirit..
Unfortunately, the "Divine Shepherdess" may be our best hope.
Someone please alert us when she shows up ... Clearly, she's been napping for a while ...
Are you that kooky guy who's always putting up those billboards that claim that the Pope is the antichrist.
Don't trivialize this serious thread with jokes about pedophile priests. It gives FReep a bad name.
Painting an entire religion as irrelevant because of what happened with several American diocese is a bit much, no?
There is also the walls of the Kremlin...
What, pray tell*, did you think the word "pray" meant?
And why would your obvious ignorance need to be imposed on someone in Venezuela?
*Note: that sentence strangely enough does not imply that you or I am to be worshiped but that something is being asked of another.
uhhh...any one who has accepted Christ is a saint(sanctified)...which means any prayer I make for you or you make for me is part of that incense...plus that verse doesn't say we should pray to any particular saint who in turn nudges God on the shoulder and says..."Hey this person needs your particular attention".
We pray to God after the pattern Christ gave us in the Lord's prayer asking also in HIS(Jesus' name). Also when Christ prayed to his father, he certainly didn't pray to his mother's name nor did he exhort us to do so as well.
Not so anti-Catholic in my estimation. Relating to Mary as Catholics (East and West) do is not so natural for later Christian faith traditions.
I had never heard this title before, so Googled it and found this:
the title "Divine Shepherdess" should be read as Shepherdess of the Divine Shepherd
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