{"id":2383,"date":"2015-12-20T15:05:10","date_gmt":"2015-12-20T15:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/armando.info\/?p=2383"},"modified":"2015-12-20T15:05:10","modified_gmt":"2015-12-20T15:05:10","slug":"rebellion-in-the-cathedral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/armando.info\/en\/rebellion-in-the-cathedral\/","title":{"rendered":"Rebellion in the Cathedral"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\"The \r\nChurch is a spiritual family and the family is a small Church\". This is how Pope \r\nFrancis sees the institution he leads since March 2013. If this mirror image \r\nbetween Church and family is taken literally, then it should not be surprising \r\nthat the changes that Francis, as patriarch, tries to promote in the family, \r\ngenerate disturbances and discomfort among its members. In fact, some of these \r\ndiscomforts, which could be expressed as open dissensions, can be seen in the \r\nVenezuelan Catholic Church hierarchy.<\/p>\n\n\r\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The \r\n<I>aggiornamento<\/I> that Francis - who turned 79 this Thursday - impulses from \r\nRome in matters such as communion for the divorced and remarried, acceptance in \r\nfaith of the children of unmarried couples, and some arrangement that \r\nnaturalizes homosexual couples, has found resistance in Venezuelan shores. \r\nPerhaps the most important, and sort of concealed until then, was felt in August \r\nwhen, just weeks before the second part of the Synod of the Family in the \r\nVatican began, a group of cardinals from four continents published in the United \r\nStates - originally, in English; one month later a Spanish edition appeared in \r\nSpain - the book <I>Eleven cardinals speak about marriage and family<\/I>, in \r\nwhich they stood up to Francis' ideas. The document was a great surprise to the \r\nVenezuelan bishops, since among the authors appears the Archbishop of Caracas, \r\nCardinal Jorge Urosa Savino, the only Latin American in the group. \r\n<\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\"We \r\ndidn't know about that initiative, which of course put us in a difficult \r\nposition, because it was interpreted as a questioning of the Pope's stance, even \r\nsome Italian bishops asked us if that was the position of the Episcopate\", \r\nadmitted a source of the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference (CEV), which recalled \r\nthat \"the Cardinal is certainly the highest representative of the Church in \r\nVenezuela, but he is not the head of the Church in Venezuela, but an advisor to \r\nthe Pope. The voice of the Church in Venezuela is the CEV\". \r\n<\/p>\n\n\r\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Urosa, \r\nin any case, denied being opposed to the Pontiff and attributed everything to a \r\nmisinterpretation of the media. \"In the book I defend the position that Saint \r\nJohn Paul II left in his document <I>Familiaris Consortio<\/I>, which states that \r\npeople who have had problems with ecclesiastical marriage and who have \r\ncontracted another marriage or are living in concubinage cannot receive \r\ncommunion unless they live in sexual abstinence; that is, as siblings. That is \r\nwhat the catechism and the Church's doctrine dictates, which states that whoever \r\nis divorced and has sexual intercourse outside of marriage is committing sin\", \r\nhe explains. <\/p>\n\n\r\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Urosa's \r\nclarification, however, did not counterbalance the weight of another gesture of \r\nhis: he also subscribed a letter to Pope Bergoglio in which several cardinals \r\ncriticized the Synod's proceedings. The letter was broadcast by the media in the \r\nmidst of debates and caused another controversy. \"Some journalists have given it \r\nan air of protest and revolt (...) they have exaggerated too much, they have \r\ntried to make a storm in a tea cup\", he said. <\/p>\n\n\r\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In \r\nthe premises of the CEV they assured that the letter made noise in the Vatican. \r\n\"The Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, knew about the letter and spoke with \r\nseveral of those who were going to sign it but failed to convince some of them \r\nnot to do so and let others go ahead, obviously to expose them\", indicated a \r\nconfidant. Parolin, Bergoglio's right-hand man in the Vatican bureaucracy, was \r\nfor a long time Nuncio (ambassador of the Pope) in Venezuela and knows full well \r\nthe local church. <\/p>\n\n\n\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-embed-handler wp-block-embed-embed-handler wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\thttps:\/\/youtube.com\/watch?v=IPiCHpMxWfU\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t \n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A 'sotto voce' rumors<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Is \r\nthe Venezuelan hierarchy against Pope Bergoglio? No. \"It is unthinkable that the \r\nCEV and the Pope be on separate lines of thought and action, on the contrary: I \r\nbelieve that the CEV has been one of those that have succeeded in subsuming into \r\nits last documents the thought and point of view of Francis. I see many bishops \r\ncommitted to the message of Francis and most importantly the priests, who have \r\nmade their own this message of leaving the comfort of the office and going to \r\nthe people\", said Father Carlos Boully, rector of the Universidad Cat\u00f3lica Santa \r\nRosa (Ucsar). <\/p>\n\n\r\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In \r\nsimilar terms, the former president of the CEV and archbishop of M\u00e9rida (capital \r\nof the state of M\u00e9rida, Andes of southwestern Venezuela), Monsignor Baltazar \r\nPorras, pronounced: \"None of those who signed this book represent their \r\nEpiscopal conferences and the Synod gives reason for this, because there is a \r\npositive evolution towards the Pope's proposals, which were approved by a \r\nqualified majority\". <\/p>\n\n\r\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite \r\nthe unanimous statements, other prelates and religious, who asked to remain in \r\nanonymity, assure that Urosa and other allies, such as the newly elected bishop \r\nof Margarita (territory of the island state of Nueva Esparta, on the Eastern \r\nCaribbean of Venezuela), Monsignor Fernando Castro, who is the second of Opus \r\nDei in the country, don't approve the proposals of the Argentine Pontiff, \r\nconsidering that they undermine the doctrine. <\/p>\n\n\r\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bergoglio \r\nreserved one of the Synod's 45 chairs for Baltazar Porras. Porras, who has had a \r\nclose relationship with the Pontiff since they coincided in the Latin American \r\nEpiscopal Conference (Celam), of which the Venezuelan was vice president for two \r\nperiods, joined Urosa and Monsignor Diego Padr\u00f3n, president of the CEV, in the \r\ndebates that took place in the Vatican. <\/p>\n\n\r\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\"The \r\nPope called on his allies around the world to carry out his proposals and in \r\nVenezuela one of the strongest allies is Porras\", said the informant, who did \r\nnot rule out that in the future the prelate will be called to occupy a position \r\nin Rome. <\/p>\n\n\r\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The \r\nreappearance of Porras on the Vatican horizon reveals the crossed tensions to \r\nwhich the Venezuelan church is subjected these days. Although the positions on \r\nthe Pope's reforms seem to constitute two sides within the Catholic hierarchy, \r\nit in turn takes a different stance on the local political conflict of the last \r\n17 years. Porras, described as counterrevolutionary by the ruling party, thus \r\npasses as a leading reformist figure in the doctrinaire controversy. \r\n<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">'Arriverderci' to the old guard<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Will \r\nUrosa's alliance with cardinals like the former archbishop of Madrid, Antonio \r\nRouco Varela, considered one of the most conservative in Europe, take its toll? \r\nOne of the informants said yes. \"The Cardinal's position, who doesn't have good \r\nrelations with the Secretary of State and former Nuncio in Venezuela, Parolin, \r\ndidn't go down well in Rome, but we will see the real repercussions in the \r\nfuture, especially if he succeeds in influencing the election of his successor\". \r\n<\/p>\n\n\r\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Urosa, \r\n73, Archbishop of Caracas, has less than two years left in his post. Then, when \r\nhe turns 75, according to the Code of Canon Law, he must present his resignation \r\nbefore the Pontiff. Anticipating this scenario, several colleagues say, Urosa is \r\nmaking arrangements for a Coadjunctor Bishop to be named, with the purpose of \r\ncontinuing to exercise along with his successor. \r\n<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"550\" height=\"378\" src=\"https:\/\/armando.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/20122015-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-51694\"\/><figcaption>Leaked in the middle of the Synod's debate, a letter appeared endorsed by 13 cardinals, which showed doctrinal differences with the Pope. Among other cardinals, the Mexican Norberto Rivera Carrera denied having signed the letter, so the archbishop of Caracas is the only Latin American who recognized being within that group. Photo: Perfil.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Inside \r\nthe CEV they assured that the only Venezuelan Cardinal wants that his successor \r\nto be the current Archbishop of Valencia (capital of the State of Carabobo, \r\ncenter of Venezuela), Monsignor Reinaldo Del Prette, and not the other two \r\ncandidates that resound among the prelates to appear in the list of candidates \r\nthat the Nunciature must send to the Vatican at the time: the current Bishop of \r\nBarinas (capital of the State of Barinas, western plains of Venezuela), \r\nMonsignor Jos\u00e9 Luis Azuaje, who was Executive Secretary of the CEV during the \r\nPresidency of Porras between 2000 and 2006; and the Bishop of La Guaira (State \r\nof Vargas, central Caribbean coast), the Salesian Ra\u00fal Biord, nephew and \r\ncollaborator of the deceased Cardinal Rosalio Castillo Lara, who, as President \r\nof the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State - a sort of Governor -, came \r\nto have great influence in the Holy See during the pontificate of Juan Pablo \r\nII.<\/p>\n\n\r\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Monsignor \r\nJes\u00fas Gonz\u00e1lez de Z\u00e1rate, meanwhile, despite being one of Urosa's closest \r\ncollaborators, has ceased to appear in the pools, since, according to the \r\ninformants, his name is now mentioned to succeed Monsignor Padr\u00f3n - who is about \r\nto resign, also for age reasons - in the Archdiocese of Cuman\u00e1 (capital of the \r\nstate of Sucre, northeast). <\/p>\n\n\r\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But \r\nnot only Urosa or Padr\u00f3n will have to leave, many of the bishops who had a rough \r\nrelationship - when they had it - with the late Hugo Ch\u00e1vez will have to leave \r\ntoo. Among them are the pugnacious archbishop of Coro (capital of the state of \r\nFalc\u00f3n, western coast), Monsignor Roberto L\u00fcckert; or the archbishop of \r\nMaracaibo (capital of the state of Zulia, northwest border of the country) and \r\nformer president of the CEV, Monsignor Ubaldo Santana. Even Porras himself, \r\nanointed for his closeness to the Supreme Pontiff, is in retreat, when the \r\nself-proclaimed \"Bolivarian process\" is, albeit weakened, still underway in \r\nVenezuela. <\/p>\n\n\r\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The \r\ncastling moves that are being prepared before the next wave of retirements could \r\nfavor Mario Moronta, predict the sources. The current bishop of San Crist\u00f3bal \r\n(capital of the state of T\u00e1chira, border with Colombia) was removed from the \r\ncenter of political action - he served as Auxiliary Bishop of Caracas at age 40 \r\nand then in Los Teques - and exiled to a distant region in times of John Paul \r\nII. At that time in the Vatican there was little conformity with the sympathy \r\nthat Moronta professed towards Chavismo.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"550\" height=\"363\" src=\"https:\/\/armando.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/20122015-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-51695\"\/><figcaption>Next to Urosa, the newly elected bishop of Margarita, Monsignor Fernando Castro, stands out in the conservative wing of the Venezuelan clergy. Photo: Venezuelan Episcopal Conference.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">'Eppur si muove'<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The \r\nSynod of the Family was the first battlefield where Francis' renovating gestures \r\nwere put to the test. Considering how it developed, it is difficult to determine \r\nwhich side emerged victorious. It was a tense appointment. The Pope himself \r\npointed out in his closing speech, on October 24, that some participants had \r\nused \"methods not entirely benevolent\" to defend their theses. In fact, the \r\nfinal document looks like a neutral gibberish that doesn't allow observing \r\nsignificant advances in which the Church describes as \"difficult situations\" \r\n(divorcees, unmarried couples, homosexuals). A victory for the \r\nconservatives?<\/p>\n\n\r\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\"We \r\nare not where we would like to be, but we are no longer where we were\", is the \r\nresponse of Father Boully, rector of the Universidad Cat\u00f3lica Santa Rosa (Saint \r\nRose Catholic University). \"The Pope has awakened consciences, stirred up the \r\nfire of reflection on these themes. The mere act of calling the Synodal Fathers, \r\nof calling to reflection some minds that remained frozen for a long time, is an \r\nadvance. The Synod is not a light switch that you turn on and everything \r\nchanged, no! Just now, it's only starting to generate reflection among the \r\nbishops, priests and laity, and then we eventually will see the fruits. Francis \r\nhad the courage to convene this Synod to address issues that others did not \r\ndare\".<\/p>\n\n\r\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In \r\nsimilar terms, Porras declared: \"The Synod advanced and opened a series of \r\npossibilities that will have to be developed prudently, but with a firm step \r\nforward at the level of the Episcopal conferences\" and sent a message to the \r\n\"immobilists\": \"Putting the doctrine first is putting the law first and it has \r\nto be the other way around, it is life itself that points out what should be \r\nregulated for the greater good of all the communities\".<\/p>\n\n\r\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To \r\ncalm the parishioners from the frightfulness that could be produced by the sight \r\nof a church in diatribe, Monsignor Ovidio P\u00e9rez Morales, who presided over the \r\nPlenary Council of Venezuela, recommended that everyone stop echoing about \r\nschisms and divisions: \"You have to get used to the debate within the \r\nChurch\".<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"wps-pgfw-pdf-generate-icon__wrapper-frontend pgfw-icon-display pgfw-icon-display--default\" style=\"--pgfw-icon-justify:center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/armando.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2383\/?action=genpdf&#038;id=2383\" class=\"pgfw-single-pdf-download-button pgfw-single-pdf-download-button--default pgfw-single-pdf-download-button--icon-only\" title=\"Generate PDF\" style=\"--pgfw-icon-width:25px;--pgfw-icon-height:45px;\" aria-label=\"Download PDF\"><span class=\"pgfw-single-pdf-download-button__media\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><img src=\"https:\/\/armando.info\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdf-generator-for-wp\/admin\/src\/images\/PDF_Tray.svg\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\"><\/span><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Facing the innovations of Pope Francis, the Church in Venezuela is not monolithic. The only Venezuelan Cardinal, Jorge Urosa Savino, has been exposed as a dissident of the reforms coming from Rome. His stance divides the clergy and leaves the conservative side in bad position for his succession as Archbishop of Caracas. At the same time, paradoxically, they reinforce the progressive sector of a church that until now has acted as a containment wall against Chavismo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":51696,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2387,2210],"tags":[1841,1787,176],"pais":[4216],"serie":[],"localizacion":[4227],"ppma_author":[2304],"class_list":["post-2383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-internacionales","category-investigacion","tag-ingles","tag-religion","tag-venezuela","pais-venezuela-en"],"acf":{"reportage-top-html":""},"views":1722,"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":2387,"label":"Internacionales"},{"value":2210,"label":"Investigacion"}],"post_tag":[{"value":1841,"label":"Ingl\u00e9s"},{"value":1787,"label":"Religi\u00f3n"},{"value":176,"label":"Venezuela"}],"pais":[{"value":4216,"label":"Venezuela"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/armando.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/20122015-catedral.png",1920,784,false],"author_info":{"display_name":"ARMANDO.INFO","author_link":"https:\/\/armando.info\/en\/author\/armando2\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":2387,"name":"Internacionales","slug":"internacionales","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2387,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":127,"filter":"raw","menu_order":"0","cat_ID":2387,"category_count":127,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Internacionales","category_nicename":"internacionales","category_parent":0},{"term_id":2210,"name":"Investigacion","slug":"investigacion","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2210,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":670,"filter":"raw","menu_order":"0","cat_ID":2210,"category_count":670,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Investigacion","category_nicename":"investigacion","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":1841,"name":"Ingl\u00e9s","slug":"ingles","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1841,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":50,"filter":"raw","menu_order":"0"},{"term_id":1787,"name":"Religi\u00f3n","slug":"religion","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1787,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":11,"filter":"raw","menu_order":"0"},{"term_id":176,"name":"Venezuela","slug":"venezuela","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":176,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":100,"filter":"raw","menu_order":"0"}],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-14 23:11:11","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"authors":[{"term_id":2304,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"juan-francisco-alonso","display_name":"JUAN FRANCISCO ALONSO","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/armando.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/armando.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/armando.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/armando.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/armando.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/armando.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2383\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/armando.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/armando.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/armando.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/armando.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2383"},{"taxonomy":"pais","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/armando.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pais?post=2383"},{"taxonomy":"serie","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/armando.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/serie?post=2383"},{"taxonomy":"localizacion","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/armando.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/localizacion?post=2383"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/armando.info\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=2383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}