Venezuelan Bishops will be present during Pope Francis’ journey to Colombia, the neighboring country of Venezuela, on September 7, 2017, confirmed the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Greg Burke, on the flight to Bogota.
There will be no “meeting”, but “greetings” at the end of the celebration in Bogota.
In the plane taking the Pope from Rome to Bogota, the Pope himself recalled Venezuela’s situation, inviting those gathered to pray “so that dialogue can be had and the country can find good stability again through dialogue with everyone.”
The members of the Executive of the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference (VEC), numbering six, met with Pope Francis in the Vatican last June 8, to inform him on the situation in the country. Monsignor Diego Rafael Padron Sanchez, President of the VEC, headed the delegation that included the First Vice-President, Monsignor Jose Luis Azuaje Ayala; the Second Vice-President, Monsignor Mario del Valle Moronta Rodriguez; the Secretary General, Cardinal Jorge Liberato Urosa Sabino; Archbishop of Caracas and Cardinal Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo, Archbishop of Merida.
On several occasions, and again on August 4 in a press release, the Pope and the Holy See called for nonviolence and stressed the need for the people to decide their fortune in the ballots. They also appealed for the release of political prisoners and for the organization of humanitarian corridors so that the population can receive food and medicine.
