VENEZUELA
Cardinal Savino highlights Government failure as the cause of the crisis
‘A kilogram of milk powder costs more than the average monthly wage. How can Venezuelan mothers feed their children?’
“A kilogram of milk powder costs more than the average monthly wage. How can Venezuelan mothers feed their children?” asked Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino, archbishop of Caracas, at a press conference in Caracas on 31 May organized by Aid to the Church in Need in partnership with the association Venezuela Little Venice.
The Cardinal denounced the plight of Venezuela, putting the blame on the government.
“Already in 2010 I said that the political Marxist totalitarian system that the current administration has imposed would lead to ruin our country and so it was,” said Cardinal Savino. “Bankruptcy decisions of the government and especially the failed economic policies have meant that we were in these tragic conditions. And we cannot even hope in the opposition so that everyone who is opposed to the regime is imprisoned or exiled. ”
The Cardinal noted how the situation has drastically fallen over the past four years, especially for children: ”It is very painful to see children rummage through the garbage looking for food.” According to Venezuela Little Venice, nearly 17 per cent of the nation’s children is malnourished.
In the current circumstances, the Venezuelan Church tries, even with limited resources, to meet the needs of the population. “In many parishes, the Church feeds Venezuelans through ‘solidarity pots,’” the Cardinal said. “Our priests and our religious are really the heroes alongside the poor of Venezuela.”
Bishop Oswaldo Azuaje Pérez of Trujillo, near the border with Colombia, said “My priests live the gospel with missionary spirit and experience the same conditions of the faithful. Even in the Diocese of Trujillo, the ‘pots in solidarity’ offered by parishes are needed to feed the population. In some areas, malnutrition is the cause of children’s death…In these crime and drug trafficking areas because of insecurity, a few days ago a priest was attacked.”
Prayer, information, and practical support are the three needs of the Venezuelan Church according to the two prelates. In recent days a delegation of Aid to the Church in Need travelled to Venezuela to develop its own new aid. In recent years the Papal Foundation has supported more projects responding to the significant increase in requests from the Latin American country.
ACN International
