Church Lenten message: too much hate ... too little liberty

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Preaching at one of the 18 religious services that took place on Wednesday in (Caracas) Santa Teresa Church where the statue of Jesus The Nazarene is venerated, Cardinal Ignacio Velasco has defended the right to life seriously under siege in Venezuela each weekend. 

The weekend homicide figures "show that thieves, muggers, revolutionaries or whoever has the capacity to decide the existence of other persons deny the importance of the supreme gift of life." 

Velasco also asked for the gift of liberty for the Venezuelan people ... "Lord, give us freedom that we can feel free to express our thoughts with happiness because a Venezuelan without freedom isn't Venezuelan ... at least, not the same Venezuelan as normal." 

In his Holy Week message, Venezuelan Episcopal Conference (CEV)  president, Archbishop Baltazar Porras has called on the Venezuelan People not to give in to the political crisis. 

"Don't feel it is a stone tied around our necks and there's nothing we can do to stop ourselves from drowning ... every society has to recur to the great value of affection, or ternura because there is so much hate being sown that we are reaping more poverty and more criminals." 

Porras insists that a national political agreement is essential, if hope is to be restored and that society must uphold the values of liberty and coexistence.

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