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The Current Destruction of Venezuela & The Role of the Church

Image credit: Alberto Rodriguez

Editor’s Note: The following testimony was sent to us by Dr. Carlos Augusto Casanova Guerra, Professor of the University of St. Thomas in Chile and signatory of the document sent by 45 Catholic scholars to the College of Cardinals concerning the possible heretical readings of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia. Professor Casanova is a native Venezuelan who served as a leader in the movement of universities to defend their autonomy from the government, as well as of those who strove to protect the freedom of parents to educate their own children. For this reason he received warnings and threats from Luis Miquilena, the Venezuelan Minister of Interior and Justice from 2001 to 2002, and the intelligence agency known as DISIP. After Chávez came back to power in April 13th 2002 he left the country on sabbatical, and has since lived abroad. He knows many people still living within the country, and their situation grows grim as the Venezuelan humanitarian crisis unfolds. We have asked him to give as much history and context as is needed to help those outside the region understand the plight of the Venezuelan people. Today we present his story to you as a cri de coeur. Venezuela is a Catholic country, and the Church both on the ground and abroad at the Vatican is playing an active role in what happens next.


Although the world outside hears little about it, the situation in Venezuela grows grim. There is famine and civic unrest. There is no food because the government destroyed all of our agriculture and most of our industry.

Government sympathizers are not speaking the truth when they say Venezuela is in this situation because it became too dependent on oil. This was not the case before the Communists took over, and if it is so, it is their doing, and they remain in control. They have destroyed even the refineries and the petro-chemical research centers and plants.

As a result of their genocidal policies, which remind one of similar historical circumstances in Ukraine, in China, and more recently in North Korea, the people of Venezuela are literally dying of hunger.

Recently, a person I trust very much was driving in Caracas. This person stopped at a traffic light and noticed something strange on the sidewalk. There was a woman. The person looked curiously, because it was clear that something was wrong. On the sidewalk, the woman sat down and, using her bare hands, tore open a rat she had just killed. Then she sank her teeth into the raw flesh…

Looking Back: The History of a Crisis

Venezuela was, until very recently, a Western and Catholic country. It was formed under Spanish rule, and its territory was the first of the continental Americas on which the Europeans in general and Columbus in particular set foot. After the initial shock of the conquest, the first three hundred years of its history wwere full of beautiful deeds. Sadly, the enemies of the Catholic Church and of Spain have succeeded in virtually erasing from European and U.S. history the truth of this period of time[1].

In the 19th century and as a result of the Napoleonic invasion of Spain and the abdication of both Carlos IV and Fernando VII, Venezuela severed itself from the old continent. The War of Independence was extremely violent, and the country lost a third of its population through bloodshed, sickness, and emigration.

At first, the republic kept most of the traditions received from Spain, but soon the Liberals and Positivists (who had immense power in Ibero-America through the Masonic Lodges) seriously disrupted those traditions. Particularly affected were our sapiential traditions at the highest levels, both academic and ecclesiastical. The Central University’s assets were confiscated, a German Positivist was imposed as rector, and the Schools of Theology and Philosophy were suppressed. The University of Los Andes was dispossessed of its holdings as well, but the professors there financed the work from their own pockets, allowing the institution to keep its freedom and autonomy. Elsewhere in the country, religious orders were suppressed, foreign friars and priests were expelled, and local religious were forbidden to wear their habits – even at home.

Masonic rule brought with it huge injustices. Following 16th-century England’s example, the Pueblos de doctrina (“towns of doctrine”) and the communities of (formerly Indian) peasants (comuneros) were divided. Very soon, the comuneros were dispossessed, and the problem of latifundium – large private estates worked by local laborers – arose.

Over time, the country convalesced from the war. Venezuela rebuilt a national army, which defeated “caudillismo” – a socio-political system led by various strongmen who arose in Latin America following the wars for independence of those nations from Spain. The officers of the Venezuelan army loved their country and sought the common good. Commerce, roadways, universities, and the civic life in general began to grow immensely.

In the 1920s, however, a new factor began to assert itself in Venezuelan politics: modern political parties and ideologies. Fatefully, Marxism and the Communist Party appeared as well. But as a countervailing force, the study of philosophy returned to the Central University, thanks in part to two Catholics: Caracciolo Parra León and Mario Briceño Iragorry.

In 1945, a revolutionary leftist political party called Acción Democrática (A.D.), with the aid of some military officers, brought down the military government. In the beginning, A.D. was a very Marxist party. Its leaders tried to impose a tyrannical system of education. The Catholic party (Copei) became its counterpart. After a tremendous confrontation, the military intervened and overthrew the rule of A.D. in 1948. The spirit of the country was still alive. The Jesuits and other religious orders at the time were doing a lot of good. Theologically, they soundly inspired the cadres of the Catholic party and the action of many unionists and politicians in all parties.

In the following decade, the military made sure that the country kept growing in all respects. But despite the limited revival at Central University, one area where the military leadership was not so successful was in the promotion of sound philosophical study. In this regard, the country had been in darkness for a long time, and the empty space filled again with dangerous ideologies. In the 1950s, Mariano Picón Salas, an influential thinker and writer of the time, nevertheless persuaded the highest leader of A.D., which was only temporarily defeated, that Marxism was an enemy of freedom and a doctrine of slavery.

And so, in 1958, when the military government of Marcos Pérez Jiménez was overthrown in a military coup with the help of civilians from A.D. and from Copei, and when A.D. again secured the government, Betancourt, the party’s leader, made sure that a republic, and not a Marxist tyranny, was formed in Venezuela. From that point on, the country had a stable electoral bipartisan regime – until Hugo Chávez came to power in 1999.

It is important to make note of the many achievements of Venezuela in the decades leading up to the Chávez regime and the return of Marxism to the national stage. Perhaps most notably, the country developed a technologically advanced oil industry. In the 1970s, all the oil companies in Venezuela were nationalized, and the public company (PDVSA) worked with admirable efficiency. (Chávez would later decimate the technical capabilities of PDVSA by firing more than 22,000 technicians and workers in a single day.) In the ’80s and ’90s in particular, Venezuelan agriculture grew considerably. Land was redistributed in such a way that the problem of latifundium was brought under control. Industry grew. The nation built hydroelectric plants and developed steel and aluminum industries. Many of the central industries providing Latin America with cars and food were located in Venezuela. National food industries arose to meet the needs of the people. Oil production was very technified, with refineries and petro-chemical plants. Even so, in 1996, oil accounted for less than 30% of the nation’s domestic gross product.

When President Caldera (1994-1999) came to power, our external debt amounted to 30 billion dollars; when he left in 1999, it was reduced to 27 billion. The country had a good system of free public health care and free education and universities, both public and private. It is therefore fair to say that until 1999, Venezuela had a classical Western structure. The autonomy of universities was respected, and the Catholic Church remained an important moral authority.

The Communists, however, never relented in their efforts, even during this period of growth and prosperity. Cuban forces landed on Venezuelan coasts. The Communist youth of the nation, among them the young Teodoro Petkoff, did their best to destabilize the country but were defeated. Venezuela even took steps to defeat Communism elsewhere in Central America and in the Caribbean. Fidel Castro, who thought the Caribbean would be a Communist Lake, saw his hopes crushed and swore revenge.

The Chávez Era

Despite these defeats for Venezuelan Marxism, we can see that Hugo Chávez did not come to power “out of the blue.” His rise was prepared by a long process of subversion of the culture, in which the Rockefeller family and the Communist powers (first the Soviet Union and later China) both played important roles. The Rockefellers, by means of a television channel, a record company, and a group of radio stations (controlled by the Cisneros family[2]), succeeded in distorting the world of music and of public spectacles and in creating a false self-image of the Venezuelan people. The Communists succeeded in filling the universities with the basest of ideologies and, far worse, in infiltrating the Church.

One of the results of this infiltration was the destruction of the formative plan of the Catholic party. Indeed, Copei, which did not wish to become a Marxist party, largely gave up acting to prevent the evil influence of Communist clerics. Another result was a strong turmoil at the Catholic University (in which Fr. Luis Ugalde, S.J., a controversial priest and friend of the new Marxist superior general of the Jesuits, was one of the main characters), which resulted in a nullification of the doctrinal content of education at the university. When I attended my classes there (I received my law degree from Venezuela’s Catholic University), Catholic doctrine was utterly absent from our courses[3]. My course, “Introduction to Law,” was taught by a Jesuit father who promoted Marxism much more than Christianity. Actually, he did not promote Christianity at all – may God have mercy on his soul! The result is that now, the Venezuelan Church is divided, and the new Jesuits have succeeded in lowering the cultural and military defenses of the republic against its totalitarian enemies.

Returning to Chávez, we find him to have been a cradle Communist. His brother Adán helped him infiltrate the Armed Forces as the realization of a plan devised in La Habana to take over Venezuela in the long run. His aims, according to Alberto Garrido, an expert on Chávez’s thought, included the physical extermination of the middle class. During the first year of Chávez’s government, the number of yearly homicides climbed from 4,000 to more than 9,000 – a figure that has grown steadily since then. Today, we have almost 30,000 corpses entering the morgue each year as a result of homicide. (This figure does not include executions of people who are buried in mass graves.) The government uses the common criminals as “low-intensity revolutionaries.” Many of the victims are enemies of the regime, priests who have any connection to the armed forces, and any agricultural entrepreneur or peasant who does not submit to the tyranny’s policies – that is to say, who tries to keep producing efficiently. The government compulsorily expropriated the productive land.

The revolutionary wave completely washed away the Catholic party, Copei. A.D. has survived, but the real leaders who love the country and have the courage of their convictions have left the party and been forced into exile, thrown into prison, or killed. Antonio Ledezma is one of these real leaders; he left the party in 2000 and was imprisoned in 2015.

In place of the traditional parties, others arose. One of them is Primero de Justicia, the party of Julio Borges, the current president of the National Assembly, and Henrique Capriles Radonsky. This party came to an understanding with the government in 2006 and has served the regime by creating the illusion that there is significant democratic opposition in Venezuela.

Chávez at first tried to ignore the autonomy of universities, but he came into an immense conflict with them due to the brave resistance of professors and students. He then switched tactics, choosing instead to strangle the universities slowly by killing many of the resistance leaders while reducing education budgets to the point of ruin.

Chávez also attacked the freedom of the press. He destroyed the republic by proclaiming that the ”Original Constituent Power” was above the Constitution, placing himself in fact above all republican powers. He adulterated the Registry of Electors so that to know his real popularity after 1999 became virtually impossible. Only at the end of 2005 were we given a clear indicator: there was an election for the Congress, and some weeks before it, the opposition leaders (at the time, there were real opposition leaders) withdrew because there were no guarantees of a fair, honest election. On this occasion, voter turnout – according to initial official figures – was only 12%. This despite threats that whoever did not go to vote would be fired from pubic office or lose any contracts with the government. Thirty percent of those votes were null – this despite the fact that many people thought their vote was not secret.

The regime also brought in thousands of Cuban agents and gave them control over the country’s secret service and espionage services. Chávez was an utter traitor. He expected to be Fidel’s successor, but Fidel’s brother Raúl was a serious obstacle. Also vice versa: Raúl expected to succeed Fidel, but Hugo was a serious obstacle.

The official story of Chávez’s death indicates that he died of cancer in Venezuela after two trips to Cuba for treatment. Many Venezuelans, however, think Raúl Castro had Chávez killed, and all are certain that Chávez did not die on the 60th anniversary of Josef Stalin’s death, but in fact much earlier, in December 2012. Some believe that only his corpse returned home from his last visit for treatment in Havana; others, that he is buried in Cuba and what was sent home was a casket holding a decoy made of wax. The circumstances of both his death and the disease that led to it remain mysterious and provoke many questions. It is known that the Cuban, Russian, and Chinese governments have a strong presence in Venezuela. There are also groups of Arabs, along with FARC, the Colombian guerrilla movement[4].

The Rise of Nicolás Maduro

So the groundwork was laid for the current domination of Raúl Castro over Venezuela. Right before the death of Chávez, Havana decided that Chávez’s replacement should be Nicolás Maduro – a man about whom little was known, born in Colombia[5]. He became de facto president in December 2012[6] and then won a dirty election to continue his reign. There was a considerable reaction from the Venezuelan people. Used to life in a Western country, they rejected the totalitarian tyranny of the Communists. But their liberation has met with considerable obstacles.

The Communists are experts in one important thing: controlling power. They infiltrate everything, going so far as to create and control their own opposition. So it has come to pass that after fifteen years of Communist rule in Venezuela, many of the so-called “opposition” leaders are complicit with the government. One of these is Julio Borges, associated with the Mendoza family (a family with commercial and industrial interests, who, by establishing agreements with the government, tries to protect those interests); another is Fr. Luis Ugalde, S.J., who, as we have said, is a revolutionary but plays the role of adviser to the anti-communist opposition, as is expected of a priest. The real opposition leaders, if they become dangerous, are imprisoned[7], killed, or forced into exile.

At the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014, Leopoldo López, an opposition leader who previously avoided making waves with the government, changed his attitude and decided to strive for his country’s common good. With the help of other opposition leaders – namely, Antonio Ledezma and María Corina Machado – López succeeded in leading the people to an effective rebellion called “La Salida” (The Exit), which appeared poised to bring down Cuba’s domination over Venezuela. The Venezuela Catholic bishops’ conference approved of this rebellion because, according to them, “the main cause of the current crisis [in 2014] is the attempt of the official party and of the authorities of Venezuela to impose the so called ‘Outline of the Fatherland’, behind which hides the promotion of a governmental system of totalitarian character” (see their document of April 2, 2014 here).

The Role of the Vatican, and the Analysis of Pablo Medina

But when all seemed to be lost for the government, two significant characters intervened: no less than Pope Francis and Michel Bachelet, the president of Chile. They promoted the so-called “Mesa de Diálogo” (“Dialogue Table”), which gave a most welcome respite to the government and allowed it to throw Leopoldo López into prison and secure power. In the opening meeting of that infamous “Mesa de Diálogo,” on April 11 (9 days after the bishops’ statement!), Francis, through the apostolic nuncio in Venezuela, expressed his sympathy for the Maduro government, saying it was searching for the “common good,” and held that any form of force (even against a tyranny) is illegitimate. Dialogue, he said, is always a moral duty.

At the end of 2015, the people of Venezuela had again turned on their government, but again, the “Dialogue Table” created by the influence of the Vatican led to the dissolution of the protests, as in 2014. The process repeated the following year. This part of the story is best told via excerpts from an interview with the unionist and political leader Pablo Medina[8], given to El Venezolano TV on the program Aló Buenas Noches on May 22, 2017.

Medina is first asked to talk about what is happening right now in Venezuela: “We want you to talk to us about the National Guard, the snipers, the bazookas…these people are preparing themselves. What for?”

Medina: I think it is important to define accurately what is going on, because the big international press has succeeded in establishing a sort of thesis according to which there is a civil war in Venezuela. But, in my opinion, there is no civil war. In a civil war, one finds 50% of the population in arms against the other 50%. That is not what is going on in Venezuela. Something else is happening in Venezuela. In the light of what is happening, we should not be able to call what Maduro … [is] doing a “dictatorship.” Not even a military dictatorship, one of those classical dictatorships that we had on this continent, also in Venezuela. Because those dictatorships at least built things, those were dictatorships that built countries, unlike this sort of swill we have.

What is it that we have in Venezuela? In Venezuela, what we really have is a group of lackeys. What we have here is a non-declared international conflict. We have a regime, an invasion, that has grown roots in our country and wants now to consolidate itself definitely through the Constituent Assembly. Thus, 90% of Venezuelans are confronting an invasion.

This invasion [by Cuba] has international support. That is what happened in 2016 when we had the regime against the corner. When the government got a spanking in the National Assembly elections in December 2015, the Cuban government commanded that no more elections be held in Venezuela. And there have been no new elections. All elections have been canceled: the governors’ elections, the unions’ elections, the university elections, and even the elections of beauty queens.

During 2016, the grave political and economic crisis kept the people in tension. There were occasional outbursts of protest, but again and again, the mirage of the “Dialogue Table” – created at the insistence of the Vatican – allowed the government to dismantle resistance with the support of “opposition” leaders who had a seat. In the meantime, as Pablo Medina says, Maduro was able to secure the military’s grip on the situation.

The other side of the table, the docile opposition leaders, saw how their popular support was eroding. They were forced to finally give way to the wrath of the people. In December 2016, an important Catholic Venezuelan intellectual, Alberto Arteaga, voiced his deep concern for the incongruity created by the Vatican when it failed to demand that the government demonstrate clear respect for the most elementary rights of the Venezuelan people. In January 2017, the apostolic nuncio again insisted on the same course of action, proving that Arteaga’s concerns had fallen on deaf ears.

And now the people have fallen into desperation. They are unwilling to stop the protesting until at least their most basic rights are secured. But the people have been met with brutal repression led by an army of occupation.

What is happening in Venezuela is not a civil war. It is not even a dictatorship. What is it, then?

Medina goes on:

A disarmed people is confronting a foreign invasion. … A global “geopolitical game” has been organized, with the Cuban government, of course, as one of its parties, the Socialist International, the Vatican, Obama and the lackeys of the American continent (Samper, Fernández, and others), with the goal of imposing Maduro upon us. Right when we had him against the corner because of his nationality (He is not Venezuelan; he was born in Colombia. Since 1830, when the republic was created, to this date, he is the only foreign man who has been president.), he was imposed upon us by an international plot… [that is,] the “dialogue table.” …

The dialogue table was imposed upon us. What happened with that? Those parties gave time to this narco-tyranny to recover. The National Guard, which at the time had 30,000 men, came to have 70,000. Where did the 40,000 new men come from? The worst criminals, assassins with many killings[.]

In particular, currently, this tyranny and the occupation army are trying to consolidate themselves through the Constituent Assembly. This Assembly is just a tyrannical device typical of the Communists and of all tyrants, who do not really want to consult the people, because they know that the people who have experienced the consequences of the tyranny hate them.

Pablo Medina continues:

There are no elections. That is why it is very peculiar that, while all sorts of elections are canceled in Venezuela, they want to organize an election in two degrees (an indirect election) for a dictatorial Constitutional Assembly of Mussolini’s kind. Today (May 22), the Supreme Court canceled the direct elections. This way, the Court makes [it] easy for him [Maduro] to have a Constituent Assembly with 500 members, of which Maduro, that lackey [of the foreign powers that control Venezuela], will have beforehand 250. That way you can see the nature of this Assembly. Even the general public prosecutor declared that that is illegal.

Note well, my dear reader: since 2014, the Vatican diplomacy has been an important factor, through the “Dialogue Table,” in the survival of the Communist tyranny in Venezuela – and this when the Venezuelan bishops have declared repeatedly that we are faced with a tyranny and have suffered serious persecution. The people have become confused because the Venezuelan pastors have remained at their side, but the Vatican officials have actually saved the tyranny at least twice. Right now, their diplomacy seems to be taking the same turn: to impose upon us a fake “dialogue” with an indifferent tyranny and a foreign army.

We see a sharp division in the Church. On the one hand, one can see the Vatican’s diplomatic efforts along with Jesuits like Luis Ugalde, who consider the government to be fulfilling the role of “well-meaning but incompetent doctors” with whom one can dialogue. On the other hand, there are the bishops and priests who understand the situation and who side with the people even when they are persecuted for doing so.

The confusion created by the international press concerning the nature of Venezuela’s current conflict has found a basis in the image the Jesuits – Fr. Luis Ugalde in particular – have managed to create.

As much can be seen from Luis Ugalde’s recent interview, published by the BBC. There he states that Maduro was elected democratically in 2013, which is a falsity. He goes on to say that only after his election has Maduro become a “dictator” (instead of a tyrant) – as if the problem consisted only in recovering a democracy that has been recently lost. Ugalde hides the totalitarian nature of the tyranny, the destruction of the free press, the falsification of the registry of electors, and so on. But he also hides the foreign invasion of the country and the huge humanitarian crisis. Finally, he tries to blame the current economic crisis on 20th-century Venezuela’s inability to produce anything but oil.

Fr. Ugalde’s interview is outrageous. He seeks to blame the victim. In light of this, one asks: What is it about the psychology of these anti-Church priests that allows their conscience to betray the mass of Venezuelans, who have honored them and loved them for decades? How can they be ready to support a regime that is physically killing all those who trust in these priests? Whence comes such hatred of Christians and fellow human beings?

I want to finish by telling the world what is perhaps the most important aspect of the current crisis in Venezuela. One could ask: Why are the people so desperately trying to overthrow this tyranny? Why do they not cease to protest on the streets despite the consequences they face? The answer is simple: the people are tireless because the people are desperate. There is real famine in Venezuela. Many are dying of hunger. There is no food because the government destroyed all our agriculture and most of our industry. Fr. Luis Ugalde is wrong (or lies) when he says that in Venezuela, there was no production but oil. This is true now, but it is the Communists’ doing.

Image credit: Alberto Rodriguez

In the light of the humanitarian crisis, the attack against the physical existence of a Catholic people, I finish by formulating a plea to Pope Francis: please, Holy Father, if you are to intervene in Venezuela, do so to make sure that the genocide of a Catholic people stops. The life and the Faith of the Catholic people should not be subject to “dialogue.” Cease giving time to a band of genocidal Communists and a foreign army who would just exterminate the bodies of all those Venezuelans who do not submit to the extermination of their souls by atheist blasphemy!

 

POSTSCRIPT – After I had written this piece, I was made aware of the letter Francis wrote to the bishops of Venezuela on June 5, and I learned about the urgent meeting that  has been called in Rome  for June 8. In his letter, Francis says two deeply troubling things that show that, for whatever reason, he does not understand the situation of the country. Indeed, he said that he is deeply troubled

“because of the confrontations and the violence of these days [of demonstrations] which have caused many deaths and wounds and which do not help to solve the problems but only provoke more suffering and pain[.]”

I thank you for your constant calling to avoid any form of violence, and to respect the rights of the citizens and to defend the human dignity and the fundamental rights, because, the same as you, I am persuaded that the grave problems of Venezuela can be solved if there is the will to build bridges, of dialoguing seriously and to fulfill the reached agreements.

I address the following comments to Pope Francis:

Totalitarian movements use dialogue just as an excuse to disarm the adversary, and only when they feel weak. Nazi Germany held dialogues with England and France just to have time to consolidate its power in the Ruhr, in Czechoslovakia, and in Austria. Once Hitler felt strong, he did not dialogue. The Communists in Venezuela do the same. Please, do not distract the bishops from fulfilling their duty as pastors. The people of Venezuela have the right to legitimate self-defense.

Not every use of force is violence. When you have a gang of foreign genocidal maniacs trying to starve a people to death, any failure to use all the force that can be mustered to prevent that gang from killing more people is itself a terrible form of violence. If you use a spiritual authority that is holy to persuade a people not to defend itself, then you are inciting a very evil form of violence, perhaps without realizing it, just by the failure to rightly assess the situation.

I really hope that the great bishops of Venezuela understand their duty before Jesus Christ and stick to it, no matter what authority tries to interfere. And I hope they are able to persuade Pope Francis about the right course of action so he can emulate Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, who were always great protectors of the Venezuelan people and their freedom.

 

NOTES:

[1] I have made an effort to summarize this period of time in my book El republicanismo español en América. Una evaluación (https://archivos.juridicas.unam.mx /www/bjv/libros/8/3979/5.pdf). I examine there, among other things, the treatment of Indians and of black slaves.

[2] This family is originally from Cuba, but its members migrated to Venezuela in the 20th century. Now they own DIRECTV and Playboy Television.

[3] There was a fortunate exception if one had a good professor for the small course on Canon Law.

[4] Francisco Olivares, a Venezuelan research journalist, has written about the government’s handing in of Venezuelan passports to international terrorists. On the presence of FARC in Venezuela, see a report by this same journalist here.

[5] See research on this point here (PDF).

[6] See here.

[7] I feel I must mention here Alejandro Peña Esclusa, whose early warnings were ignored and despised by all those who could have saved the republic.

[8] I want to warn the Venezuelan people that although Pablo Medina tells the truth in this interview, he should not be trusted as a leader. He has been a Communist, and therefore, he could be a double agent.

98 thoughts on “The Current Destruction of Venezuela & The Role of the Church”

  1. God in Heaven. May Our Lord Jesus Christ quickly rescue Venezuela from these Communist dogs.

    The stink arising from the Society of Jesus is so foul that it must be suppressed. It is totally subverted and in the hands of the enemies of the Church.

    As for Bergoglio, he witters on and on about peace and justice like some 1960s beatnik or like John Lennon with his evil song “Imagine”, but nothing, it would appear, can dent that ideological commitment to leftism and (I strongly suspect) Masonry. Well, I also have a song called “Imagine”.

    Imagine there’s no Bergoglio
    No Jesuits too

    Reply
    • I posted this on another thread, but it seems very appropriate here.
      Our Lord gave Sr. Mary of St. Peter this prayer to defeat the Communists and the enemies of the Church:

      Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and all the instruments of His Holy Passion, that Thou mayest put division in the camp of Thine enemies, for as Thy Beloved Son hath said, “a kingdom divided against itself shall fall.”

      Please share this prayer with others!

      Reply
          • Pope Leo XIII approved of the Holy Face Devotion, aka Work of Reparation, with three Papal Briefs. And as Stewart Davies mentions, “The Golden Arrow” is an excellent place to read about the Holy Face Devotion. I am very glad Margaret mentioned this devotion here as I have been trying to spread devotion to the Holy Face in small ways. One of the other prayers that is part of this devotion is the Chaplet of the Holy Face. It does not take long to say and is intended to make reparation to Our Lord for blasphemy and the profanation of Sunday as well as defeat communism. God bless all of you!
            +JMJ+

          • The best version of the Golden Arrow is the one printed by Catholic Family News (CFN):

            May the Most Holy, Most Sacred, Most Adorable, Most Mysterious and Unutterable Name of God be praised, blessed, loved, adored and glorified, in Heaven, on earth *and in the hells*, by all God’s creatures, and by the Sacred Heart of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Amen.

            Most versions of this prayer have “and under the earth” instead of “and in the hells”.

            Almost every website that promotes the Golden Arrow has the version with “and under the earth” – even the Vatican website (I kid you not – it’s there!)

        • Possibly the best source of information on Sr. Mary of St. Peter is “The Golden Arrow: The Autobiography of Sister Mary of Saint Peter; (!816-1848) on Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus: Edited by Dorothy Scallan; Translated by Fr. Emeric B. Scallan;Tan Books, 1954).

          Reply
    • Read ‘The Jesuits’ by Malachi Martin written in 1987. They were bad then and worse now. Suppression indeed.

      Reply
    • Thank you. The words of your song are so true and so apt. Once again Bergoglio has nailed his colors to the mast……….. Communism and Freemasonry. To dictate that starving, persecuted Catholics should stop protesting and have “dialogue” in order to to give his communist and Masonic brothers time to dismantle anything resembling freedom for those desperate Catholics is Diabolical beyond belief. The man missed his true vocation when he gave up the idea of being a butcher! Just when you think he’s reached his peak of evil – he becomes more so. God bless Venezuelan Catholics they need our prayers AND our practical help.

      Reply
  2. God help them. It would seems that Bergoglio knows exactly what he’s doing. Like a bungling cop at a crime scene because he knows the criminal.

    Reply
  3. …can someone tweet this article to that Kennedy bonehead who loved Chavez so much he ran around for a few years during the Bush years delivering Venezuelan oil to poor Americans during the winter just to make a political point.

    Reply
    • Bergoglio and Sosa should read it.
      Oh, I know they know what is going on, much better even than the Author of the article, as they are the main actors in this tragedy, but I would like these monsters to read the words of an honest, God-fearing man.

      Reply
  4. Bergoglio, who never ceases to insult Catholics, calling them rigid and ideologues, would rather have all these people die than stop imposing his devilish ideology of a “dialogue” with the devil. Not only would he have their flesh die, he would have their souls sold to the God-hating communist, or at least indoctrinated with a hatred for God.

    Reply
  5. Thank you for this great article, Carlos Casanova and 1P5. Thank you for all your work in defending faith and life. I will share with my family and we will pray for you and Venezuela.

    Reply
    • This persecution of Catholics is already spreading across the world. The Prophecies and warnings from Our Lady of Fatima, Akita and many Saints are unfolding at the speed of light. Pray for the people and dear Martyrs of Venezuela ; those Martyrs will pray for us when our turn comes. Their suffering now will count as their Purgatory when they die – and they will go straight to Heaven as Saints.

      Reply
  6. Francis is Unlikely To-do anything of note. His appeasing Muslims ,Lutherans and Venz. Ld. of Jesuits are a scandal beyond words .

    Reply
  7. Does Dr. Casanova Guerra really believe that Francis is guilty merely of well-meaning naivete? I suspect he is just being charitable and diplomatic.As Georg Neumayr recently pointed out, Bergoglio has adopted a strategy of seeding the upper echelons of the Church will marxist revolutionary scumbags and their fellow travelers. Not a few of them are Latin American, and Dr. Casanova Guerra will surely know this.

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  8. Everything ok with this article, except for the example with Germany “in the Ruhr, in Czechoslovakia, and in Austria.”. They were RIGHT to receive back the Ruhr, the Sudets and Austria because these were ancestrial german lands. So the example do not apply.

    Reply
    • Daniel, you are in part totally wrong and you can believe me as I’m coming from the old “Sudetenland” in Czechoslovakia. Ancestral? It depends where or when you drive your line. Also regarding Austria, that they speak there German (with a funny accent, albeit) does not make her one of yours “ancestral german lands”

      Reply
      • Danzig & Niederschlesien voted overwhelmingly to belong to Germany. Beside 3 Mio. German Inhabitants in the Sudeten there Werke also 400 K Cehcs vor others. They Werke deported, not nice. Still, 1937 the wish of german unity was AS legit as it could be.

        Reply
        • Herr Daniel, you seem to mix up the truths with half truths in a profoundly arcane language which is – and I do not mean an offense- is very difficult to read and even more difficult to understand. It could have been said simpler, I feel. The Sudeten were from the time immemorial a natural border, mountainous region where the 3 main peoples (Cechs, Germans and Poles) were living together, without any big problems, although…The Germans (hardworking!) were in most areas an overwhelming majority, and for as long as the written history can support it, the Czech from the central Czech lands were going there, for shorter or longer periods, to work, earn money and learn German. Danzig, Niederschlesien etc. were a part of Ost Preussen, an area which (before WWII and the subsequent re-drawing of borders) was extending much more towards east, into areas which were later allocated (given? grabbed? stolen by?) the victorious Russians (and their “friends”) to other newly fenced states. Anyway, I think we will be drifting away from the theme of the main article if we discuss these issues. Let the past be not forgotten but forgiven…God bless

          Reply
      • It’s funny: in Wien in the “Haus der Heimat” the sudenten german director of Felix Ermacora Institute told me something very different. And also the Sudenten German Landsmannschaft in Munich would agree to the fact that they identified as germans. And also the Schlesier from now-days Poland would agree. It must be that you are one of the 1% who do NOT identify as germans,while the other 99% do.

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      • Well, I am sorry for you, but majority german inhabited lands are german lands. And: german is not nazi. Stalin killef 20 mil. in the Gulag, still you took his Name.

        Reply
        • ” … majority german inhabited lands are german lands ..”

          But Austria and Czechoslovakia were not German, whatever language they spoke or speak. They were Austrian and Czech.

          But your reckoning, Herr Banner, England should again claim the thirteen original States of the USA; and what about the parts of northern Germany from whence came the Saxons and the Angles? We’ll have those back again please.

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          • I think Daniel is now quietly applying a cold compress to the black eye you just delivered! Classic! And of course you are right.

          • I was actually on the way with no batery. Now I am back and of course Stalin is NOT RIGHT because you don’t know a thing about german dominated Central and Eastern Europe. England was never a cultural, organic, ethnic nation so they cannot reclaim anything. The colonies broked themselfs with the Empire but in Eastern Europe is the other way around: 99% of the ethnical german identified as such and not as czecks or polish. They had about 8 milion ethnical german in central and Eastern Europe after the first world war. AGAIN: WE ARE NOT WESTENERS, WE ARE CENTRAL EUROPEAN, CULTURAL AND ETHNICAL THINKING PEOPLE, IDENTIFIYNG WITH THE MOTHER-TONGUE-NATION UNTIL TODAY. Just check https://www.agerpres.ro/english/2017/06/01/presidents-iohannis-trump-to-meet-in-washington-on-june-9-14-17-18 and http://us1.my-proxy.com/index.php?q=09ja2tytk5WdpWauodbN1s_N3MWUp6mfZq_Uz8-ZtN_F26uWgaagzNLU09w.

          • Hey, Stalin, you don’t know a THING about Eastern Europe: the sudeten germans never identified as czecks, and Austria just lost its Empire and the national german thinking was equally strong. Do you mean to tell me that the Referendum for the Anschluss was faked by Nazis ? And: we have here the rich german cultural nation, typical of Eastern Europe and of german enlightment (Herder) not the poor “citizenship nation” of the anglo-saxon phylosophy. This is exactly the difference.

          • ” … rich german cultural nation …”

            That looks a bit weak in the wake of the devilish German 20th century, doesn’t it? OK, you had Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Muller. What else?

          • hahaha….you are giving to the good Herr Daniel heavy blows…hahaha…and it is interesting to speculate how the geopolitics will develop further in these “ancestral German lands” after getting injections of various Arabic tribes which embrace Islam!

          • German language

            A–M

            Franz Xaver von Baader
            Hans Urs von Balthasar – theologian; wrote literary criticism and biographies of the saints
            Heinrich Böll – novelist
            Clemens Brentano –
            German poet and novelist of Italian origins; leading figure in the
            Romantic movement; later withdrew to a monastery and acted as secretary
            to the visionary nun Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich
            Hermann Broch – convert; author of modernist novels, The Death of Virgil and The Sleepwalkers
            Heinrich Seuse Denifle – Austrian Dominican friar; historian and paleographer
            Alfred Döblin – novelist; wrote the novel Berlin Alexanderplatz before he converted to Catholicism in 1941
            Heimito von Doderer
            Annette von Droste-Hülshoff – 19th-century poet; strict Catholic; many of her poems are religious
            Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff – 19th-century poet and novelist
            Joseph Görres – late-18th- and early-19th-century journalist and writer
            Günter Grass
            Romano Guardini – Italian-born German theologian
            Theodor Haecker – translator and writer; convert; opponent of the Nazis
            Karl Ludwig von Haller
            Dietrich von Hildebrand – philosopher and theologian (wrote in both German and English); convert
            Hugo von Hofmannsthal –
            late-19th- and early-20th-century Austrian poet and playwright; later
            plays revealed a growing interest in religious, and particularly Roman
            Catholic, themes
            Elisabeth Langgässer (1899–1950) – Catholic writer; the Nazis deemed her “too Jewish”; admired by Pope Benedict XVI
            Gertrud von Le Fort – convert
            Alexander Lernet-Holenia
            Martin Mosebach – novelist, poet, playwright, and noted critic of the liturgical reforms which followed Vatican II
            Adam Müller

            N–Z

            Ludwig von Pastor – historian; wrote multi-volume history of the popes
            Josef Pieper – German Thomist philosopher
            Erich Maria Remarque
            Joseph Roth – convert
            Max Scheler
            Friedrich von Schlegel – convert
            Carl Schmitt
            Angelus Silesius –
            17th-century convert to Catholicism from Lutheranism; became a priest
            and wrote religious poems, some of which became famous as hymns in the
            German-speaking world; some of his poetry seems to lean towards pantheism or quietism, but his prose works were orthodox, and the Catholic Encyclopedia says he repudiated any unorthodox interpretation of those poems
            Robert Spaemann – philosopher
            Othmar Spann
            Friedrich von Spee – 17th-century Jesuit priest and author of religious poetry
            Adalbert Stifter
            Count Friedrich Leopold zu Stolberg-Stolberg – late-18th- and early 19th-century poet; convert
            Blessed Henry Suso – 14th-century Dominican friar; devotional writer of the Middle Ages, including “the Minnesinger of Divine Love” in works such as his Little Book of Eternal Wisdom; his works contributed to the formation of German prose
            Karl Freiherr von Vogelsang
            Ernst Wiechert
            Josef Weinheber

          • Daniel, at the end of the day the most important aspect of our lives is working towards our salvation in Our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a difficult task for all of us, but God does allow us time to recuperate and reflect. Occasionally we need to get away for a while from the craziness of this world – think about a holiday to down here to New Zealand one day – it’s an amazing place with plenty of fresh air and space. Here’s an NZ song to cheer you up – set to my favorite aircraft – don’t worry, I won’t mention the war:)
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPA5WuzbFQM

          • The ethnic structure of some of the catholic parishes in Central and Eastern Europe was (partially still is) a German one. There is a ecclesiastical culture to which someone spontainously belongs or not, but for the history of the church (which is: the steps of Jesus in our history) and for the identity of those Catholics and their culture, you cannot generalize. So the german language remains until today the main identity of some parishes and theological cultures across Central and Eastern Europe. Until today!

          • At the end of the day the most important thing is to remain German in Eastern Europe in order to help the new economic and cultural power of Germany over Europa! German language is now more important than ever. So anglo-saxons should remain where they are, we here in EE (Eastern Europe) know better as you!

          • Read Thomas Mann, “Germany and the germans”. It’s not weak, you associate between facts (wars, holocaust) but these are not necesary expression of a poor science or smth. like that. Re-think this tragic dimension of european culture.

          • “what about the parts of northern Germany from whence came the Saxons and the Angles? We’ll have those back again please.” Well, YOU never ruled there, but they ruled you.So you could join a german dominated confederation, but guess what, now after BREXIT we are goinz to declare German an official language in all of “ze” European countries, I mean “Laender” of course.

      • I had 3 uncles in WWII – one in the US Navy (Okinawa) and 2 others in Europe. My dad and paternal uncles were exempt because Dad had to wear glasses and they did munitions work (war effort). However, imho he is right re the distinction of Germans vs. Nazis and your nom de plume.

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  9. This is what happens when Man is placed over God. Right now the whole world is headed the way of Venezuela. The glue that keeps everything together is the faith of the Catholic Church which unfortunately is waning especially now under Pope Francis. Let us pray to Our Lady of Fatima that the Church will come to it’s senses.

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  10. If anything, I am convinced Francis knows what he is doing and it is neither good or holy. I am sure his bishops have told him the truth about the government’s war against the people and the Church. He advocates dialogue and there can be no dialogue with evil. This approach is right up there with demanding Europe open it’s boarders and invite a Moslem invasion. Both lead to destruction of the Church and our Western culture.

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    • I am 100% certain that the person masquerading as “Pope” is indeed the False Prophet….who is preparing the way for the anti-Christ. The speed at which we are hurtling toward outright persecution is gathering momentum.

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  11. Finally some information on the appalling misery of the Venezuelan people….may God help them. How can this continue in our so called nlightened time ? All leftists should take a good look at the results of their commie ideology. May God forgive Bergoglio !

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  12. One question for the author, if he be reading the comboxes: what is the likelihood of a military coup? Disastrous Marxist governments that are overthrown by armies are par for the course in South America (Pinochet in your current country of residence). Did Chavez (who came from the military) weed out all of the good generals?

    Reply
    • Sadly, right now it is not highly possible. The National Guard is very ideologized. The Army is less so, but the Cuban control it tightly. The hope of a solution would be either that a popular uprising becomes like that of the Cristeros, or a miracle. In the first case, the need to let the army out could release the vigilance of the Cubans and bring a change in the fate of the country. But there are lots of ideologues, and not the lesser ones among the Jesuits (promoters of revolutionary violence but of pacifism when the revolution has the power).

      Reply
      • Professor, are informants a problem in Venezuela at this time? Perhaps similar to Cuba, people who inform on their neighbors, perhaps for food?

        Reply
        • In the middle classes, where my family lives, there might be informants but nobody pays attention to them. Perhaps because the government is so unpopular that nobody cares. In institutions definetely there are informants. If one works for the government in whatever way, one has to be careful about what one says and to whom. In lower classes I think that there are more problems wth informants. The unpopularity of the government is great there too, but the militias do not allow any visible manifestation of discontent. In the last months, the attempts to demonstrate there have been quickly crushed with a lot of violence. But the greatest problem, I think, are the double agents. Guys who posed as opposition and are not. In 2014 at least 30 Army officers were arrested because the government learned that they were discontent and they contactedan “opposition” leader who told on them, according to the journalist Patricia Poleo.

          Reply
          • Thank you.

            Our late President Reagan once said that “freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” It is frightening to see the destruction of civil society in your country. Is there anything that ordinary Americans can do that would actually help?

          • Another American asked me how he could send food. I am trying to find this out. If I see a clear way, I will let you know!

          • We should contact each other over the email to talk about help. Perhaps you can ask the editor of 1 Peter 5 to forward to me an email by you?

  13. I feel deep compassion for the Venezuelan people as well as true sorrow seeing their hope in terms that “Pope Francis” will do something to help them. Unfortunately, in this moment no Catholic can expect any support from the Vatican for Bergoglio and his team have just taken a one way ticket for the Orient express Vatican-Israel-Bahrain.

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  14. You want to get Francis worked up and cussing out evil politicians? Mention Trump. Oh yeah……then he’ll really go to town.

    However, let Castro or Morales or some other socialist thug like Chavez (or Maduro) walk in the room and he’s a grinning, glad-handing, back-slapping fanboi who babbles compliments and praise. Venezuela is an oil exporter, fer cryin’ out loud! It takes a really special sort of incompetence and corruption to turn an oil rich country into an economic and social train wreck. These are the men who have reduced their citizens to misery and serfdom and what does Francis have to say about their evil ideology? ……….*crickets chirping*……

    Of how much faithlessness must the Church be guilty in order to have this malignant spirit inflicted on us?

    Reply
    • “Of how much faithlessness must the Church be guilty in order to have this malignant spirit inflicted on us?”

      As I’ve said before, the *Church* is the Bride of Christ (c.f. Ephesians 5: 22 et seq.). *Churchmen* on the other hand can be faithless.

      Excerpt from the Credo of the People of God:

      19. We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church, built by Jesus Christ on that rock which is Peter. She is the Mystical Body of Christ; at the same time a visible society instituted with hierarchical organs, and a spiritual community; the Church on earth, the pilgrim People of God here below, and the Church filled with heavenly blessings; the germ and the first fruits of the Kingdom of God, through which the work and the sufferings of Redemption are continued throughout human history, and which looks for its perfect accomplishment beyond time in glory.(24) In the course of time, the Lord Jesus forms His Church by means of the sacraments emanating from His plenitude.(25) By these she makes her members participants in the Mystery of the Death and Resurrection of Christ, in the grace of the Holy Spirit who gives her life and movement.(26) She is therefore holy, though she has sinners in her bosom, because she herself has no other life but that of grace: it is by living by her life that her members are sanctified; it is by removing themselves from her life that they fall into sins and disorders that prevent the radiation of her sanctity. This is why she suffers and does penance for these offenses, of which she has the power to heal her children through the blood of Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

      Source: http://w2.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/motu_proprio/documents/hf_p-vi_motu-proprio_19680630_credo.html

      Reply
    • Did you notice the unhappy look on Francis’s face when Trump visited the Vatican and they posed for pictures together?

      Reply
  15. What a wonderful article! Thank you ONE PETER FIVE for posting it. With all the damage that this papacy has promulgated, this is the most devastating to acknowledge. A faithful people, a people dying from the most basic of human rights, are being dismantled by the Vicar of Christ! Please,

    Reply
  16. VIDEO: Venezuelan parents “giving away” their children to whom? Whose rushing down into that poor sad country for that? (Thank God *that* Arkansas foundation is locked down, and its principles are otherwise occupied. Yet, still whom?

    The criminal crisis (designed) is that bad.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hxYPomlMPg

    Reply
  17. Hmmmm, I could be wrong, but I kinda remember thousands upon thousands of Venezuelans cheering joyfully for Chavez when he was promising them everything and mocking the US President.
    Were these mobs all extras from central casting? I think not.
    Did they get what the wished for? Quizas?

    Reply
    • O! By that time Chávez had lost most of his popular support, but it was hard to know it because all the votations were trumped and the polls were not trustworthy: in totalitarianism people are afraind of telling their true opinion to a stranger. –Unless they are desperate, as they are now.

      Reply
  18. So why do not the bishops (1) denounce Bergoglio and (2) procure arms and establish a Cristero uprising? Useless cowards.

    Reply
    • Unlikely the bishops have experienced in military logistics and supply. And remember, in this situation, Maduro SA controls EVERYTHING. Civilians are disarmed, civilian leaders are easily picked off and imprisoned, and the country is full of people who inform on their neighbors.

      Reply
      • The bishops don’t need to be trained military leaders, they need to sound the horn to motivate and engage the faithful, and they need to help finance and organize the uprising. This has been done before – e.g. in Brazil.

        Then they hire the military experts needed – also this has been done before – e.g. in Mexico, where the Cristeros actually won the war.

        Today’s clergy is compromised by modernism, personal greed/ambition (but none for the Church/Faithful) and rank cowardice. They are all completely useless.

        Cardinal Burke is a prime example of this. He loves to dress up like a traditional bishop and initially he criticised Francis/Amoris Laetitia but he backed down soon enough when he faced resistance. Wasn’t so fun then, was it? No stamina or courage whatsoever. These church leaders want the honors but not to do the work.

        Not a single penny more for these Churchmen and their pretend-Catholicism I say. When the money dries up maybe they start to wake up, or they leave and make room for others.

        Reply
  19. Pope Francis the Jesuit, like fellow Jesuit and Superior General Sosa support the Maduro government and what they are doing. He is trying hard to save them.

    The way to know the Crisis, the Great Apostasy has ended, or is passing, is when the Jesuits are suppressed. I cannot judge whether Fr Sosa is a heretic, but he denied the basics of the Christian Faith, and has a long record of supporting Communism.

    Papa Ganganelli, Ora Pro Nobis

    Reply
  20. “But when all seemed to be lost for the government, two significant characters intervened: no less than Pope Francis and Michel Bachelet, the president of Chile. They promoted the so-called ‘Mesa de Diálogo’ (‘Dialogue Table’), which gave a most welcome respite to the government and allowed it to throw Leopoldo López into prison and secure power. In the opening meeting of that infamous ‘Mesa de Diálogo’, on April 11 (9 days after the bishops’ statement!), Francis, through the apostolic nuncio in Venezuela, expressed his sympathy for the Maduro government, saying it was searching for the ‘common good,’ and held that any form of force (even against a tyranny) is illegitimate. Dialogue, he said, is always a moral duty.”

    For me, that’s enough. If I were any doubtful about Bergoglio and his papacy, now I’m not. I’m done with trying to appease his image. I cannot defend this papacy anymore. The only hope is to wait for the next to come.

    Reply

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