Maduro and Hostility Towards Catholics in Venezuela

We’re barely through the first weekend of January when news that President Trump captured Dictator Nicolas Maduro. Maduro refused to give up his seat after losing a presidential election.

Maduro first came to power in 2013, succeeding Hugo Chavez. His presidency, according to Defense News, was marked by “a complex social, political, and economic crisis that pushed millions into poverty, drove more than 7.7 million Venezuelans to migrate and put thousands of real or perceived government opponents in prison, where many were tortured, some at his direction.”

Between 2012 and 2020, the Venezuelan economy shrank by 71%. Its oil production, the beating heart of the country, dropped to less than 400,000 barrels a day, a figure once unthinkable.

But what is more shocking is how he has, time after time, silenced dissent. In particular, a socialist communist, like many others who existed before him, has attacked and persecuted many priests and bishops in his country.

One article cites that Maduro has “called for an investigation into clergymen who have been critical of the government, claiming they may be guilty of a crime under a law passed in November by the illegitimate National Constituent Assembly, made up almost exclusively of supporters of President Maduro.”

Additionally, Maduro went further to call the bishops and priests “devils in cassocks.” He even referred to the Catholic Church as “full of evil, poison, hatred, perversion, and slander.”

Just last fall, Venezuela imposed more strains following the canonizations of the country’s first two saints. The government interfered with Masses of Thanksgiving that were to take place in honor of the holy man and woman elevated to sainthood by Pope Leo XIV.

Now, Venezuela must not only heal from the ordeal it has endured, but it must move to a brighter future. Catholics of Venezuela can’t live in fear anymore, as Maduro will face justice.

It is a celebration, but the country must now end its crusade against Catholics.