AMERICA/VENEZUELA - Bishops concerned about Constitutional reforms: “What we want to see is peace, prosperity, harmony, justice and freedom in every corner of the country ”

Caracas (Agenzia Fides) - The Catholic Bishops of Venezuela have expressed concern with regard to constitutional reforms announced by President Hugo Chávez. On 15 August the President presented the 167 members of the National Assembly with a draft document of amendments for 33 of the 350 articles of the 1999 Constitution. The Bishops of Venezuela formed a commission which met in early September to analyse the constitutional reforms and prepare a message for the people. The message will be issued by a special Plenary of the Bishops' Conference in the third week of October. The Commission members are Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino archbishop of Caracas; Archbishop Diego Padrón Sanchez of Cumaná and Archbishop. Reinaldo Del Prette Lissot of Valencia en Venezuela and Bishop Jesús Zárraga Colmenares of the diocese of San Carlos de Venezuela.
The Bishops say it is "important for all Venezuelans of all sectors and ideologies to take part in the debate and study the proposed changes so that the national constitution will be a treaty of peace for the country not a declaration of war". Several times the Bishops have stressed the need for "authentic national dialogue on this matter so important for the future of the country, and that all opinions are listened to and respected". The Constitution “must not be for one particular group, but for all citizens, and therefore a fruit of national consensus ”. The reform, “must respect the great principles and rights already present in the Constitution”.
Besides this reform the National Assembly is also discussing a new Education Law which gives parental authority over minors under 20 to the state. In this sense the Bishop Nicolás Bermúdez auxiliary of Caracas, said “the Church is not against teaching children about the ideologies there have been in the world, but it is one thing to offer access to knowledge of them and quite another to want to indoctrinate the people by means of one kind of obligatory education… Every person has the right to knowledge. Knowledge is not a problem, the problem arises when there is a will to indoctrinate. The important thing is to guarantee freedom to teach and profess the faith". Bishop Nicolás Bermúdez urged the government to acknowledge the Church's contribution towards educating millions of Venezuelans and asked for the Church to allowed to continue to offer this service. He announced that the Bishops' Commission for Education will assess the new curriculum prepared by the ministry of education and present its observations on the programme.
Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino, on 22 September during celebrations for the 25th anniversary of his ordination as a Bishop, expressed concern for scarce interest shown by the people to know the contents of the constitutional reform and he urged all Venezuelans to take an active part in the discussion because, he said “ this reform is most important for the future of Venezuela … and what we wish to see is peace, prosperity, harmony, justice and freedom in every corner of the country". (RG) (Agenzia Fides 26/9/2007; righe 36, parole 513)