patent
Posted on 01/29/2002 6:46:39 AM PST by patent
| 29-Jan-2002 -- ZENIT.org News Agency ZENIT material may not be reproduced without permission. Permission can be requested at info@zenit.org VENEZUELA´S CHÁVEZ STEPS UP VERBAL ATTACKS ON CHURCHCalls It a "Tumor" for the Country´s "Revolution" CARACAS, Venezuela, (Zenit.org).- Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez assailed the country´s Catholic bishops, accusing them of not "walking in the way of God" because they do not openly support the political leader´s "revolution." This was Chávez´s second attack on the Church in recent days. Last Thursday, during his New Year´s greetings to the diplomatic corps accredited to Caracas, the president verbally attacked Archbishop André Dupuy, the apostolic nuncio. When the archbishop said that the "force of reason" should prevail over "reasons for force," the military president said, "What they all must do is respect Venezuela´s sovereignty, from the Vatican to any state." Chávez added: "Look here, Monsignor, one of the tumors of the revolution is the Catholic Church." Then, in statements expressed Sunday during the radio and television weekly program "Hello, President!" the chief executive personally attacked Cardinal Ignacio Velasco, archbishop of Caracas, and the other bishops. "Make an examination of conscience; go and stand before God and pray for a while an Our Father, or twenty Our Fathers and twenty Hail Marys," Chávez said. The cardinal and bishops had criticized a Mass celebrated last Wednesday, in which the Venezuelan leader and a Catholic priest expressed support for his Marxist-inspired social policies. In past months, Chávez has tried, unsuccessfully, to establish a Church loyal to his government (similar to that in China), separated from the bishops, with priests and former priests who subscribe to his Marxist ideology. His criticisms against the Church grew harsher after 80,000 protesters marched last Wednesday in Caracas in opposition to his government. This was the largest protest against the 3-year-old Chávez government. As a result, the president has sped up the militarization of his regime with the appointment of Ramón Rodríguez Chacín as Interior Minister. Chacín was a navy captain who took part in the failed 1992 coup organized by Chávez himself. The appointment followed soon after the suspension of Vice President Adina Bastidas, who was replaced by Diosdado Cabello, a retired colonel who also took part in the failed coup against democracy. Four other military men of the unsuccessful coup are now in the Cabinet. At least 50 soldiers occupy midlevel posts in government, the diplomatic corps and state-run enterprises. |
Other articles:
Chavez fires friend from his Cabinet as 80,000 hit the streets (installs another '92 coup ally)
patent
patent
Back in the days of Michelangelo the Pope himself would lead his Catholic forces into battle -- as shown in "The Agony and the Ecstasy"
In past months, Chávez has tried, unsuccessfully, to establish a Church loyal to his government (similar to that in China), separated from the bishops, with priests and former priests who subscribe to his Marxist ideology.
Interesting.
Thanks patent ...
Venezuela Catholics Condemn Church Bomb Incidents-- Interior Sec Miquilena told reporters on Tuesday those responsible were ''provocateurs who are trying to stir up trouble and distort certain realities.''
Venezuela on a crash course under President Chavez -- Most of the media, small opposition parties, the Roman Catholic Church and anti-government unions recently intensified their verbal attacks on Chavez and his ministers, accusing them of intolerable incompetence, authoritarianism and corruption.
The outburst of criticism prompted Venezuela's armed forces chiefs to issue an unusual public statement backing Chavez. But the declaration, aimed at dispelling nagging coup rumors, only increased speculation about simmering military discontent....
And the US gets a lot of oil from Venezuela...
For the security of our country, we must drill ANWR, we must drill offshore, and we MUST lessen our reliance on foreign oil...
Chavez is trying to politicize the Church, and if he succeeds in installing a religious regime similar to China's, it would be a good idea to remember that in the future...there have been and will be more martyrs...
I have visions that one of my 3 Catholic sons will be the next F-14 pilot bombing Chavez's Quaddafi-like butt into fried paste.
I know what you mean, but it would be nice if the Venezuelans could do something about this turd before it gets to that. The last thing the world needs right now is another dictatorship persecuting Christians.
Oh, and you should probably hope that by the time your sons get there that the Air Force has something besides an F-14 left to fly, or your sons are hosed. ;-)
patent
So what are you flying when the beat you, I mean the other side? If memories of my childhood serve, it never mattered how hard the parent tried, he could never beat the kid at the video games. The key, as an adult, is to simply take the humiliation like a man. I firmly resolve to do so, and even have a game plan to deal with it gracefully.
I'm not going to buy them any games. ;-)
patent
Hopefully, the Venezulan people will boot this imposter out. But if not, they can be my guest.
Liberation Theology. IMHO, straighten out the priest or remove him from ministry.
I have a lot of relatives in Venezuela, who have told me about the situation there. You have millions of urban poor living on the outskirts of Caracas in ranchitis (sp?), sort of like suburban shanty-town ghettos. These are made up of Columbians, other immigrants, etc., and their sheer numbers and abject poverty make it politically expedient for Chavez to fill their heads with socialist schemes of wealth. That's where his support comes from, so I don't think he will be very easy to displace--at least not peacefully.
Which is why Chavez isn't doing anything to improve their situation, he just incites their frustration, blames it on his opponents and uses it as an excuse to take more and more power. Once it blows up all the way, he'll totally take over. Chavez's embrace of Castro and his decree (one of so many) that no one can protest his Bolivarian schools and where praise of his failed coup and of him is mandatory, as is military training for students along with the installation of Bolivarian watch groups, send chills down my spine. And that just scratches the surface.
Einstein, an atheist, said,
"Being a lover of freedom, when the [Nazi] revolution came I looked to the universities to defend it, knowing they had always boasted of their devotion to the cause of truth; but no, the universities were immediately silenced. Then I looked to the great editors o fthe newspapers, whose flaming editorials in days gone by had proclaimed their love of freedom; but they, like the universities, were silenced in a few short weeks.
Only the church stood squarely across the path of Hitler's campaign for supressing the truth. I never had any special interest in the Church before, but now I feel a great affection and admiration for it because the church alone has had the courage and persistance to stand for intellectual and moral freedom. I am forced to confess that what I once despised I now praise unreservedly."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.