Anglican communion denies ties to new 'Chavez Church'

Caracas, Venezuela, Jul 3, 2008 / 13:59 pm

In a press release the Diocese of Venezuela of the Anglican Church said this week it “has no ties” to the so-called “Reformed Catholic Church,” a group of dissidents who support the government of Hugo Chavez.

“We want to make it clear, in the name of the Worldwide Anglican Communion, that Leonardo Marin Saavedra, the self-proclaimed archbishop of the ‘Latin American Anglican Church,’ is not recognized as such. Therefore, he is not Anglican.  To be Anglican is to be in canonical communion with the Primary See of Canterbury. 

“We regret that this confusion completely beyond our control has moved into our country through the recent creation of the ‘Reformed Catholic Church of Venezuela’,” the press release states.

For his part, Cardinal Jorge Urosa of Caracas told Union Radio that the new religious sect is completely “incoherent.” “It is a church made up of dissidents who want to become big players of a schismatic religious movement,” he said, adding that it has no unity of purpose and is causing disturbance to “the religious and ecclesial order.”

Cardinal Urosa reminded Catholics they cannot exchange Jesus Christ “for one of the gentlemen pretending to usurp the name ‘catholic church’ in order to present themselves as the true followers and pastors.”
 
“The Church of Jesus Christ is not a church that seeks power, but rather service and the preaching of love, and not opposition to a specific government,” he said