He Human Rights Committee of the Vente Venezuela party reported this Thursday that โsubjects without identificationโ broke into a Catholic church in the Guรกrico state to โgenerate vandalismโ and that during the situation they directly threatened the priest Juan Leรณn, who was officiating a Eucharist at that time.
Vente Venezuela repudiated the attacks and assured that the attacks against religious spaces and representatives of the faith โhave no justification.โ The party recalled that โoffering words of reflection, calling for peace, cultivating religious values โโand principles so that Venezuelan society is united should not be a reason for stigmatization and attacks.โ
The Committee shared photographs showing graffiti with intimidating messages directed at the priest. Phrases such as โWe are going to kill youโ and โterrorist, fascist, thiefโ are read on the walls, painted in red and black.
The organization described the incident as a โserious attack on the Church and the country’s Catholic community,โ and highlighted that it occurred at a symbolic moment for believers, while Venezuela celebrates the canonization of its first two saints: Josรฉ Gregorio Hernรกndez and Carmen Rendiles.
โThe country is going through a moment in which faith and unity must prevail,โ emphasized the Human Rights Committee of Vente Venezuela.
The opposition party Popular Will (VP) He also condemned the incident and criticized the climate of intolerance that the country is experiencing.
โThreatening a priest and desecrating a sacred place is not only a crime: it is a reflection of the moral and social deterioration that Venezuela is experiencing today under a regime that has promoted hatred and intolerance,โ they noted.
And they added: โOur solidarity with the priest Juan Leรณn, Monsignor Raรบl Ascanio and the entire Catholic community of Guรกrico.โ