The Bishops of Venezuela presented to the country a new pastoral exhortation, at the end of their 124th Plenary Ordinary Assembly, entitled Builders of Peace in Justice and Freedom, in which they call the reunion of all Venezuelans to work for the common good and progress of the country.
In a press conference on Friday, July 11, Mons. Pólito Rodríguez, Archbishop of Barquisimeto, presented the document with other Venezuelan prelates. Mons. Rodríguez was one of the four Venezuelan archbishops who received the Archbishop’s Pallium from Pope Leo XIV, on June 29 in the Vatican.
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When consulted by ACI Press on this moment, the archbishop said it was “a wonderful experience” and shared that the Holy Father asked the Venezuelan Episcopate to promote unity and communion. “In that line we are all working,” he said.
The new pastoral exhortation seeks, precisely, “to guide the Venezuelan people towards good and unity,” said Mons. Rodríguez.
“To the extent that we can recognize ourselves as people, as children of God that we are, with defects and many limitations for our human condition, to that extent I think we would have the opportunity and openness to meet again as Venezuelans,” said the archbishop.
The new Espiscopal document emphasizes that the Venezuelan people must recognize their sins, personal and social, and implore God forgiveness:
“The Jubilee of this year 2025 calls for conversion to those who intend to take over the truth and create paradigms based on the logic of denial, manipulation and force, in order to depose any superb and arrogant attitude,” says the letter.
In addition, he points out the importance of Venezuelans to meet “with their own historical reality”, in order to travel paths that lead to peace and truth.
“It is a necessity, it is an imperative that our people manage to meet again. Our people suffer a lot. We have to see what we suffer from the departure of our relatives, but we also have to see how much those who are outside suffer. Thus there are limitations and complex situations: it is best to be in our land,” said Mons. Rodríguez.
Bishops consider that it is not necessary to make an exhaustive diagnosis of evils that afflict Venezuela, “but it is necessary to insist that with the participation of all we can find new solutions.”
To do this, they propose to all sectors of national life to create the conditions to dialogue and reach agreements, “even if it means making certain sacrifices.” The negotiations, they say, must be completed beyond political agreements and offer solutions to the entire country.
As a lighthouse of hope in the midst of this historical crossroads, the Church highlights the next canonization of the Blessed José Gregorio Hernández and Carmen Rendiles, the first Venezuelans who will be elevated to the dignity of the altars, on October 19.
They are “living reflexes of our human reality, models of faith and Christian life, with whom we identify and in whom the true image of the Venezuelan is manifested,” the prelates write.
“Holiness is the path that we must all seek as a personal life and
Community, who inspires so many men and women in this country to live in the service of the noblest ideals and human values, the promotion and defense of the dignity of the person and the commitment to the common good, ”they added.
You can read the complete pastoral exhortation of Venezuelan bishops Clicking here.
Andrés Henríquez
I was born in Caracas in 1996. I am a writer for ACI Press and correspondent of EWTN since 2023. Since then, I cover events of the Catholic Church in Venezuela, Latin America and the world. I have more than 6 years of experience in bilingual media. In addition, in Venezuela I have worked from various fields for freedom and respect for fundamental rights in the country. I am a member of the Regnum Christi Federation since 2014.