{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] --> {{Use American English|date=January 2019}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}} {{Catholic Church by country}} The '''Catholic Church in Venezuela''' is part of the worldwide [[Catholic Church]], under the spiritual leadership of the [[Pope]] in [[Rome]]. The [[Roman Catholic Church]] in [[Venezuela]] comprises nine [[Diocese|archdioceses]], three [[Apostolic vicariate|vicariates]], a [[military ordinariate]], and two Eastern Rite [[exarchate]]s under the spiritual leadership of the [[Pope]], the [[Curia (Catholic Church)|Curia]] in [[Rome]] and the Venezuelan Bishops Conference. According to ''[[The World Factbook]]'', 96% of the population was Roman Catholic in 2009.<ref>"Venezuela," ''The World Factbook'', Central Intelligence Agency, 2009</ref> In 2018, [[Latinobarómetro]], estimated that 66% of the population is Roman Catholic.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=http://www.latinobarometro.org/latCodebooks.jsp|title=Latinobarómetro 2018_Resultados por Sexo y Edad|publisher=Latinobarómetro|year=2018|pages=44|language=es|chapter=Venezuela}}</ref>
Since the [[Second Vatican Council]], the Roman Catholic Church in Venezuela has been weakened by a lack of diocesan and religious vocations. Many priests serving in Venezuela are foreign-born. Before President [[Hugo Chávez]]'s government took power, [[Protestantism|Protestant]] churches began to successfully proselytize, especially among the urban poor; however, this diminished into the 21st century.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Cleary|first=Edward L.|date=1 April 2004|title=Shopping Around: Questions about Latin American Conversions|journal=International Bulletin of Mission Research|volume=28|issue=2|pages=50–54|doi=10.1177/239693930402800201|s2cid=148581255 }}</ref> In the past, the Catholic Church did not have the funds, the personnel, or the enthusiasm to stem effectively this new challenge to its hegemony, but it believed it faced a greater threat with the new government of Chávez.
Although President Chávez self-identified as a practicing Roman Catholic, his policies troubled the Venezuelan Roman Catholic hierarchy, especially in the area of religious education. Besides its universities and colleges, the Roman Catholic Church also administers some 700 other schools throughout the country, mostly subsidized by the Venezuelan state. In 2007, Cardinal [[Jorge Urosa]], the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Caracas|Archbishop of Caracas]], called for peaceful demonstrations against any direct government involvement in overseeing the Church's administration of schools. The Church also was critical of the government’s goal to remove religious education from public schools during normal school hours.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://reader.exacteditions.com/issues/68349/page/33?term=Ch%C3%A1vez+attack+on+religious+education+resisted|title=Chávez attack on religious education resisted|last=Harding|first=Colin|date=6 January 2007|work=The Tablet|access-date=10 December 2019|volume=33}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://reader.exacteditions.com/issues/68315/page/31?term=priest+is+found+dead|title=Accusations fly as priest is found dead|last=Harding|first=Colin|date=6 May 2006|work=The Tablet|access-date=10 December 2019|volume=31}}</ref>
==Theology== [[File:Diocesisvenezuela.svg|thumb|Map of dioceses of Venezuela]] The Catholic Church in Venezuela heavily focuses on the veneration of the [[Virgin Mary]]. This is exemplified by such figures as the [[Our Lady of Coromoto]] in [[Portuguesa (state)|Portuguesa]] state, [[Virgen del Valle]] in [[Nueva Esparta]] and [[Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá]] in the western part of the country.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2017/04/19/venezuela-catholic-church-endures-among-revolutions-ruins|title=In Venezuela, the Catholic Church endures among a revolution's ruins|last=Hirst|first=Joel D.|date=13 April 2017|website=America Magazine|access-date=2019-12-10}}</ref>
==History== The history of Roman Catholicism in Venezuela dates back to the colonial period. Historically, the church has never been as prominent in Venezuela as it has in neighboring [[Colombia]]. In addition, that the Spanish clergy, in general, sided with their mother country rather than with the forces of independence, did not endear the church to the early Venezuelan patriots.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}}
===Colonial period=== In 1515 [[Cumaná]] was the first European settlement founded in [[South America]] by [[Franciscan Order|Franciscan]]s and [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]], but the monks there were being harassed by indigenous people and Spaniards operating slave raids from the nearby island of [[Cubagua]]. [[Friar]]s founded it with the name of Nueva Toledo,<ref name="Floyd">{{cite book|title=The Columbus Dynasty in the Caribbean, 1492-1526|last1=Floyd|first1=Troy|date=1973|publisher=University of New Mexico Press|location=Albuquerque|pages=204–210}}</ref> due to successful attacks by the indigenous people, it had to be refounded several times. [[Bartolomé de las Casas]], attempting a peaceful colonization scheme, was pre-empted by [[Gonzalo de Ocampo]]'s 1521 punitive raids against the local indigenous people, in retaliation for the destruction of the Dominican convent at [[Chichiriviche]].
[[Coro, Venezuela|Coro]] is the oldest city in the west of Venezuela. It was founded on July 26, 1527, by [[Juan de Ampíes]] as Santa Ana de Coro. It has a wide cultural tradition that comes from being the urban settlement founded by the Spanish conquerors who colonized the interior of the continent. It was the first capital of the [[Venezuela Province]] and head of the first bishop founded in South America. It was established on June 21, 1531, by the bull ''Pro Excellenti Praeeminentia'' of the Pope [[Clement VII]]. That diocese was suppressed on 20 June 1637 and its territory used to establish the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Caracas|Diocese of Caracas]] . Elevated to Metropolitan Archdiocese of Caracas by papal bull ''In universalis ecclesiae regimine'' issued by Pope Pius VII in the Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome on November 24, 1803, until this date having been a suffragan in the Ecclesiastical Province of the Archdiocese of Santo Domingo on Hispaniola, now in the Dominican Republic and primatial see of the Americas.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}
===After the independence of Venezuela=== Until the middle of the nineteenth century, the ranking clergy had close ties with the governing conservative oligarchy, and the church played a dominant role in the educational system. The rise to power of Liberals in the latter half of the nineteenth century, however, ushered in a period of anticlericalism. The government of [[Antonio Guzmán Blanco]] virtually crushed the institutional life of the church, even attempting to legalize the marriage of priests. These anticlerical policies remained in force for decades afterward.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}}
===20th century=== It was not until the mid-twentieth century that, under the influence of the Christian social movement that began to criticize the maldistribution of wealth, the church regained some of its former influence. Roman Catholic laymen played a prominent role in the founding of [[Copei]] (Social Christian Party) in 1946, and the announced disapproval of the church contributed to the fall of the dictator [[Marcos Pérez Jiménez]] in 1958. In the 1960s, the involvement of the church in education and welfare increased and, although the church had no formal ties with COPEI, many believed that the support of clergymen and church-affiliated institutions contributed to the electoral successes of COPEI in 1968 and 1978.
===Present day=== According to some sources, the church in Venezuela has been weakened by a traditional lack of native vocations. Many priests serving in Venezuela are foreign-born, although the inclusion of foreign clergy seems to be encouraged by many bishops throughout the Catholic world, especially in the United States. Before the government of [[Hugo Chávez]], charismatic Protestant churches began to proselyte successfully, especially among the urban poor, although this has not posed a threat to the church nearly as much as the new government of Chávez has, especially in relation to religious education in public schools and the running of the church's 700 religious schools. Chávez was very dismissive of the role of the Catholic Church's bishops in Venezuelan society.<ref name=":0" />
The Venezuelan Catholic Church has been vocal in opposing [[Nicolás Maduro]]'s administration.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/short-of-electricity-food-and-water-venezuelans-return-to-religion/2019/04/12/aa32c36a-594c-11e9-98d4-844088d135f2_story.html?|title=Short of electricity, food and water, Venezuelans return to religion|last=Hernández|first=Arelis R.|date=13 April 2019|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=9 December 2019}}</ref> [[Pope Francis]] was vocally neutral during the [[2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-vatican-idUSKCN1PI2QM|title=Vatican calls for end to suffering in Venezuela but takes no sides|date=2019-01-24|work=Reuters|access-date=2019-12-09|language=en}}</ref> The [[Episcopal Conference of Venezuela]] rejected [[Luis Parra]]'s claim to the presidency of the [[National Assembly (Venezuela)|National Assembly]] during a disrupted [[2020 Venezuelan National Assembly Delegated Committee election|Board of Directors internal election]] on 5 January 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/43246/venezuelan-bishops-denounce-contested-election-of-legislative-speaker|title=Venezuelan bishops denounce contested election of legislative speaker|last=Flynn|first=J.D.|date=9 January 2020|website=Catholic News Agency|access-date=2020-01-12}}</ref> Days later, Luis Parra tried to attend a meeting of the organization alongside armed forces but he was denied entry.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.elnacional.com/venezuela/luis-parra-trato-de-reunirse-con-obispos-de-la-conferencia-episcopal-venezolana/|title=Luis Parra trató de reunirse con obispos de la Conferencia Episcopal Venezolana|date=12 January 2020|website=El Nacional|language=es|access-date=2020-01-12}}</ref>
==See also== {{Commons category|Roman Catholic Church in Venezuela}} *[[Religion in Venezuela]] *[[List of Catholic dioceses in Venezuela]] *[[Evangelical Council of Venezuela]] *[[Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network]] (REPAM) *[[Catholic Church sexual abuse cases in Venezuela]]
==References== {{Reflist}} *{{Country study|article=Venezuela |url=http://www.country-data.com/frd/cs/vetoc.html}}
{{South America in topic|Catholic Church in|groupstyle=background-color:gold|titlestyle=background-color:gold}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Catholic Church In Venezuela}} [[Category:Catholic Church in Venezuela| ]] [[Category:Catholic Church by country|Venezuela]] [[Category:Catholic Church in South America|Venezuela]] [[Category:Political history of Venezuela]]