Challenges of the Catholic Church in Venezuela this year 2025

The Bishops of Venezuela opened on Monday their 123rd Plenary Ordinary Assembly in Caracas. The Directive of the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference (CEV), headed by Mons. Jesús González de Zárate, Archbishop of Valencia, made a count of the main challenges of the country in 2024, which he must still face this year.

The inaugural session took place at the Andrés Bello Catholic University campus. First of the hour, the bishops joined in prayer against the Blessed Sacrament, to ask for the fruits of the meeting and for the present Venezuelan. During the Assembly, the Episcopate will also choose its new Board of Directors for Triennium 2025-2028.

Mons. Alberto Ortega Martín, Apostolic Nuncio in Venezuela, transmitted the proximity of Pope Francis during these days of reflection. This Friday, the event of the event, the bishops will publish a pastoral exhortation addressed to all Venezuelans.

The political situation in Venezuela

Mons. González showed the importance of the work of the Catholic Church in the midst of the unpredictable Venezuelan political; A task that “is not easy”, especially for “the autocratic drift of national policy.” In recent months, he highlighted, the political issue has surpassed the economic as the main interest of Venezuelans.

The president of the CEV referred to the new attempts of political dialogue in the country, commenting that after Nicolás Maduro assumed a new presidential term in January – in the middle of criticism and accusations of electoral fraud – the dialogue tables have been Become a tool that “has considerably reduced the confidence of many sectors in the benefits of any dialogue or negotiation” for the “failed experiences of the past.”

Bishops call to deepen the path of dialogue, illuminated by the teaching of Pope Francis, to find a solution to the country’s great dilemmas.

Mons. González also denounced the repression and censorship of the Chavista regime against dissent, which left more than 2,000 detainees, including hundreds of minors, after last year’s presidential elections. In addition, he lamented the persecution of Chavismo against the media.

“As we have already done, the CEV must continue to insist on the full freedom of all the imprisoned and on the fair conditions of all those in Venezuelan prisons,” said the archbishop of Valencia.

He also criticized the approval of new laws in the National Assembly and the recent constitutional reform proposal, which in the opinion of the Episcopate is “a new attempt to restrain democratic freedoms through the modification of the structure of the State.”

“On January 10 (Day of the questioned taking of possession of Maduro), Venezuela became a hegemonic autocracy to a closed autocracy, with all the consequences that this leads to the field of legality, international recognition and the way of institutional relationship to the world, ”said the president of the CEV.

The social landscape

Although bishops know “that not everything is politics in the lives of Venezuelans”, which takes place “between joys and sorrows,” said that political decisions inevitably affect the daily event of the country and test the resilience of citizens.

Mons. González denounced “the precariousness of the Venezuelan electricity service” and the poor environmental and security regulations that have considerably aggravated the damage in various regions by different climatic events in recent months. “These effects should make us think about our responsibility for the care of the common house,” he said.

He also warned of “the possibility of the growth of Venezuelan migration” before the recent political events and the “restrictive measures” that have been taken from the US government. “The response to the immigration crisis must be an important point in all our pastoral initiatives,” he added.

An “opaque and depressed” economy in Venezuela

“Talking about the Venezuelan economy is difficult, since official figures are not available to assess activities in this sector. The organizations in charge have stopped providing these figures for many years, ”said Mons. González.

Unlike what Chavismo officials present, bishops point out that in recent months the Venezuelan economy has had “a little significant growth: about 5%.” In the vast majority of the productive sectors, the archbishop of Valencia continued, the economy “is stagnant or very depressed.”

In addition, he regretted the level of oil production, the main economic income of the country: “It is far from the levels we had in other times,” he said. The president of the CEV also denounced the corruption plots that, from within Chavismo, have been revealed in this area.

He also commented on national inflation and bolivar depreciation with respect to the US dollar in recent months. “In 2024, inflation was in the order of 85%,” he said.

“It cannot be hidden, despite some positive signs, that the loss of workers’ purchasing power is one of the biggest problems that the country suffers and that disrupts the complete life of the vast majority of Venezuelans,” said the archbishop from Valencia.

The ecclesial context: “Walk together”

Mons. González emphasized the importance of synodality and 2025 jubilee to Venezuela, which constitute “a program for the life and mission of our Church.”

The Episcopate also thanked “Pope Francis’s constant concern for our country” that has contributed to “maintain the horizon” of his pastoral mission, amid the difficult national reality.

“The beginning of the Jubilee Year in our local churches has constituted a determined impulse to our evangelizing mission,” concluded the president of the CEV.