Caracas, Venezuela, Jun 30, 2008 / 10:35 am
Archbishop Roberto Luckert of Coro and vice president of the Venezuelan Bishops’ Conference deplored the founding of the self-proclaimed “Reformed Catholic Church,” whose leaders have aligned themselves publicly with “Bolivarian Socialism” and are receiving financial backing from the government of Hugo Chavez.
Speaking on Union Radio, the archbishop said that the church’s leaders “want to give the impression that the Catholic Church in Venezuela is divided. They are going to dress like priests, baptize and confirm, with everything paid for by the government, which seeks to destroy the Catholic Church and has not been able to so.”
Archbishop Luckert warned that the leaders of the church have no authority from the Catholic Church. “I want to warn the Venezuelan people that the priest that is leading has asked to be freed from his ministry.”
“The supposed bishop they are going to ordain on July 29 was scandalously living with a woman and her children outside of marriage. His name is Jon Jen Shu Garcia, and he’s a young solider of the National Guard who belongs to the military chaplaincy. The other leader is a former priest who left the priesthood some time ago and married, and during an interview in Panama he said that his vocation was conquered by love. We are dealing with two priests who have resigned.”
“The worst part is that this is being paid for by the government,” he said, which has contracted Anglican priests from Canada, Mexico and Peru. “They are going to dress like priests, baptize and confirm, with everything paid for by the government, while the people are going hungry.”