Caracas, Venezuela, Oct 24, 2005 / 22:00 pm
The Apostolic Nuncio in Venezuela, Archbishop Giacinto Berlocco, said this week the Church does not endorse political parties and that the statements by Cardinal Rosalio Castillo Lara “reflect a personal opinion to which he has a right just as any other citizen of this country.”
“The Catholic Church is not aligned with any political party and….her principal mission is to attend to the needs of the people,” the archbishop told reporters.
He noted that Cardinal Castillo Lara has “his reasons for acting that way, but he does not represent the Church as he has not been officially given any task in this sense.”
On the other hand, the nuncio emphasized that there was no reason to characterize the relationship between the Church and the state as one of confrontation. “The Church favors the people,” he continued, and in this sense “there are many points of convergence” with the government.
According to media reports, Cardinal Rosalio Castillo Lara recently called upon the opposition to disavow the government of Hugo Chavez and to organize peaceful acts of civil disobedience in accord with the law.