Venezuelan archbishop says government is persecuting church leaders

Published: 2007-11-06

CARACAS, Venezuela (CNS) -- A Venezuelan archbishop said President Hugo Chavez's government is persecuting Catholic Church leaders in an effort to quiet their criticism of his policies. Retired Archbishop Ramon Perez Morales of Los Teques said Nov. 5 there is a "systematic campaign of persecution by government-controlled media to quiet the church." However, he said, it was impossible for the church to keep quiet while Venezuela is being declared "a socialist, Marxist, Leninist state. Venezuela can't be turned into Cuba from the point of view of political organization." Chavez "is trying to become the pope of this country, that is, determine what the bishops should say, what they can't say, when they must speak and when keep quiet," said the archbishop. During his weekly talk show Nov. 4, Chavez accused Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino of Caracas and Venezuela's bishops of leading a destabilization campaign to carry out a coup d'etat. Chavez has called his critics in the church "ignorant," "perverse" and "liars."

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