{"id":20392,"date":"2020-04-19T06:46:25","date_gmt":"2020-04-19T06:46:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=20392"},"modified":"2020-04-19T06:46:25","modified_gmt":"2020-04-19T06:46:25","slug":"catholic-church-urges-venezuela-to-unite-against-coronavirus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/catholic-church-urges-venezuela-to-unite-against-coronavirus\/","title":{"rendered":"Catholic Church urges Venezuela to unite against coronavirus"},"content":{"rendered":"

David Smilde<\/a>, Tulane University<\/a><\/em> and Hugo P\u00e9rez Hern\u00e1iz<\/a>, Universidad Central de Venezuela<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Coronavirus hasn\u2019t yet hit Venezuela as hard<\/a> as neighboring Brazil and Colombia. But after years of economic and political crisis<\/a>, the country\u2019s institutions are in ruins and experts agree<\/a> Venezuela is ill-prepared for a pandemic. <\/p>\n

As the stalemate between interim President Juan Guaid\u00f3 and de facto President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a> enters its second year, civil society and world leaders are pushing<\/a> for an emergency agreement that would enable Venezuela to mount a coordinated response to coronavirus. <\/p>\n

It will be next to impossible for Maduro\u2019s cash-strapped government<\/a> to address the coming crisis without significant international financial assistance. Only Guaid\u00f3, who is recognized as Venezuela\u2019s legitimate leader by the United States and most countries in the Americas and Europe<\/a>, can secure that help.<\/p>\n

Many advocates are calling upon<\/a> international actors like the European Union, United Nations or the Vatican to engage the conflicting parties. <\/p>\n

As sociologists<\/a> who have studied religion in Venezuela<\/a> for years<\/a>, we are tracking this last possibility closely. We find the Catholic Church is in some ways well positioned to aid Venezuela in this latest crisis. But its power to help is also limited. <\/p>\n

\n \"\"<\/a>
\n Venezuelan Catholics at a Holy Week procession in Caracas, April 8, 2020.<\/span>
\n Cristian Hernandez\/AFP via Getty Images<\/a><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Broad approval for Catholic Church<\/h2>\n

On March 30, Venezuela\u2019s Catholic Church issued a widely circulated message<\/a> asking all political leaders to \u201cact decisively to reach a fundamental consensus\u201d that would enable Venezuela to \u201covercome the serious current public health and socio-economic juncture.\u201d <\/p>\n

In his Easter message<\/a>, Pope Francis called for a cease of conflicts around the world. He added \u201cin Venezuela, may [God] enable concrete and immediate solutions\u201d to \u201cpermit international assistance to a population suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n

But so far, neither the Venezuelan Catholic Church nor the Vatican have followed up with concrete efforts to broker an agreement between the Maduro government and the opposition. <\/p>\n

Historically, faith leaders have played an important role in addressing conflict and violence in Latin America<\/a>, helping gang members start a new life, supporting peasants confronting landowners or mediating between conflicting parties. In nearby Colombia, the church was a fundamental player in the peace process<\/a> that ended the FARC guerrillas\u2019 52-year insurgency against the government. <\/p>\n

The Church\u2019s ability to engage in conflict resolution has come about in Latin America in part because it has a bureaucratic structure and administrative districts across the entire region. The Vatican also has an experienced diplomatic corps<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Seventy-three percent of Venezuelans identify as Catholic<\/a>. And in a society in which the courts, parties and most every other institution of public life are discredited or deeply polarizing, opinion polls<\/a> consistently show that the Catholic Church has high approval ratings.<\/p>\n