[NYTr] Venezuelan Priest Says Bishops Should be Closer to the People

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Prensa Latina, Havana
http://www.plenglish.com

Priest Wants Venezuelan Bishops to Be Closer to the People

Caracas, Oct 29 (Prensa Latina) A priest asked the Venezuelan Episcopal
Conference on Sunday to be closer to the people.

In an interview with journalist and ex vice president Jose Vicente
Rangel on channel Televen, Vidal Atencio, parish priest of Las Mercedes
Church, in the state of Zulia, noted that there are differences between
the top Catholic hierarchy and the clergy.

Commenting on a communiqué from the Episcopal Conference criticizing the
constitutional reform promoted by President Hugo Chavez, Father Atencio
pointed out that the bishops do not consult the clergy. "They just
inform," he said.

He went on to say that the members of that body must get closer to the
community, because they have turned their backs on most Venezuelans who
have a socialist thought or are building it, he stressed.

Father Atencio recalled that the Episcopal Conference was involved in
the April 2002 coup d'etat and "they are talking about new hatred and
conflicts."

He added that it is significant that the communiqué agrees with US
President George W. Bush's statements on Cuba.

The priest noted that a new socialism with great doses of Christian
love is possible, because it exists in this process to build Venezuelan
socialism.

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PL-15