CARDINAL SEES REBUILDING YEAR FOR CATHOLIC CHURCH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 000563

SIPDIS

NSC FOR TSHANNON AND CBARTON
HQ USSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/22/2015
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KIRF VE
SUBJECT: CARDINAL SEES REBUILDING YEAR FOR CATHOLIC CHURCH

REF: CARACAS 00090

Classified By: A/DCM Abelardo A. Arias for Reason 1.4(b).

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Summary
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1. (C) Retired Venezuelan Jose Cardinal Castillo Lara sees
the Catholic Church in Venezuela keeping a low profile in

2005. Appointments of a new papal nuncio and archbishop of
Caracas will likely tone down the heated rhetoric exchanged
by the bishops and the GOV throughout Venezuela's political
crisis. Castillo Lara believes the Church hierarchy will
continue to press the GOV on human rights and democracy
issues, though it will avoid a larger political or uniting
role among opposition groups. End summary.

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Catholics Will Press On Human Rights, Democracy
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2. (C) Poloff met with retired Venezuelan Cardinal Jose
Castillo Lara February 16 to discuss the outlook for the
Catholic Church's role in Venezuelan politics in 2005.
Castillo Lara, who retired to his native Venezuela after 40
years in key Vatican posts, predicted that the Catholic
Church will be less confrontational with the GOV than in
previous years. The replacement of the Papal Nuncio and the
possible naming of an Archbishop of Caracas are important
transitions that will occupy the Church's agenda, the
Cardinal said. He asserted, however, that the Church, by way
of the bishops' council (CEV),would continue to speak out
against threats to human rights and democracy. He did not
discount that certain bishops, working individually, might be
more active with opposition groups. The Cardinal said he
foresees no problems for the free expression of the Catholic
faith in Venezuela.

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New Papal Nuncio Announced
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3. (C) According to press reports on February 15, the Vatican
had submitted to the GOV the name of Giacinto Berloco as the
new Papal Nuncio in Caracas. Pro-GOV daily VEA hailed the
news of the departure of Nuncio Andres Dupuy, accusing him of
plotting to overthrow President Hugo Chavez and alleging that
the Church replaced Dupuy for being a failure. Church
representatives denied that Dupuy's exit is political, but
rather a normal rotation in the Vatican's diplomatic service.
Castillo said Dupuy's departure is within the normal term of
four-plus years in a country. But, he said, Executive Vice
President Jose Vicente Rangel had, in fact, asked the Vatican
to replace Dupuy in late 2003. Castillo said he intervened
personally with Pope John Paul II to hold off on removing
Dupuy until after the referendum, citing the importance of
continuity during the electoral period.

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Archbishop of Caracas Pending
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4. (C) The position of Archbishop of Caracas has been vacant
since the death of Caracas Archbishop Ignacio Cardinal
Velasco in November 2002. Castillo said the 1964 modus
vivendi between the Church and the GOV gives Chavez 30 days
to veto episcopal appointments. (Castillo said he has
privately encouraged the Pope to abrogate this agreement in
part because of Chavez's authoritarian ways.) Chavez's
antagonism toward Catholic leadership, especially toward the
late Cardinal Velasco, had effectively stopped action on
naming a new archbishop, according to Castillo. He flatly
denied rumors that San Cristobal (Tachira State) Archbishop
Mario Moronta would be named Archbishop of Caracas. Chavez
frequently mentions Moronta, who visited Chavez in prison
after the latter's failed coup attempt, as sympathetic to the
revolution. Castillo said Moronta lost all credibility with
the other bishops when he repeatedly failed to speak out over
persecution of the so-called "Tachira 9" who were convicted
in 2004 for their participation in the events of April 2002.
Castillo Lara conceded that appointing current CEV President
Baltazar Porras, Archbishop of Merida, would be very
difficult given his hard-line stance against Chavez.

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Comment
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5. (C) Castillo is convinced that Chavez is mentally unstable
and has compiled a list of ten characteristics of the GOV,
including despotic, corrupt, and wasteful. He accuses the
GOV of "sowing class hatred" to destroy political enemies.
Castillo is convinced the GOV mounted fraud during the August
2004 recall referendum and the October 2004 regional
elections, concerns he has stated publicly. He has also
concluded that Venezuela is no longer a democracy.
Castillo's career was spent in the Vatican and he has a
hard-line anti-Chavez take on Venezuelan politics. At 82, he
is not a spokesperson for the Catholic Church, but rather a
periodic voice of moral authority against Chavez. We expect
the Church will continue with its regular biannual statements
on human rights. But the Church seems willing to take a
pause on frontal assaults until the new Church officials are
on board.
McFarland