AMERICA/VENEZUELA. For Cardinal Urosa, the Bicentennial is "an opportunity for Venezuelans to carry out the ways of a real and permanent independence, marked by the teachings of the Gospel"

Caracas (Agenzia Fides) – In the context of the celebrations of the Venezuelan people for 200 years of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Catholic Church has stressed her position for refusing "all that is opposed to freedom and peace, solidarity and justice, social harmony and human rights". This was stated by the Archbishop of Caracas, Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino, who published a statement in which he recalls that they took part in the Catholic Venezuelan people’s emancipation like Simon Bolivar and even religious men like the first Archbishop of Caracas, Mgr. Ramon Ignacio Mendez, whose remains rest in the national Pantheon. "The commemoration of the bicentennial is an opportunity for Venezuelans to carry out the ways of a real and permanent independence, marked by the teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ", stresses the statement. Cardinal Urosa also called to respect all rights, "particularly those enshrined in the Constitution as a basis for authentic living". (EC) (Agenzia Fides 05/07/2011)