’Doralzuela’ prays for a peaceful transition
In Doral — a Miami suburb of 80,000 that has been nicknamed “Little Venezuela” or “Doralzuela” because of its large Venezuelan population — many prayed for their native country during Sunday services.
The Rev. Israel Mago, the Venezuelan-born pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Doral, told worshippers to pray for “a fair and peaceful transition in Venezuela, so peace and justice can reign.” At the end of the service, Mago invited the congregation to a special afternoon vigil to pray for justice in Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua, where human rights advocates, exiled priests, and the U.S. government say the government is carrying out a crackdown on religion.
Also in Doral, the Rev. Frank López of Jesus Worship Center — whose congregation counts more than 3,000 members from over 40 different nationalities — opened his Sunday sermon by congratulating the Venezuelan people and thanking God for President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“It’s time that in America, starting with Venezuela and may it continue with Cuba too, the glory and freedom might be manifested that Christ bought for you, for me, on the cross at Calvary,” López told the cheering congregation.
Philadelphia community gathers at the cathedral
In Philadelphia, members of the Venezuelan community gathered for a special Sunday service at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, organized by Casa de Venezuela and other Venezuelan nonprofits in the United States. Many carried Venezuelan flags and prayer beads or wore jerseys of the national soccer team.
Arianne Bracho, vice president of Casa de Venezuela Philadelphia, said the venue was chosen deliberately.
“We wanted to do it at the church so people would feel comfortable, protected. And this is regarded as a space of reconciliation,” Bracho said.
Bracho, who described herself as a baptized but nonpracticing Catholic, said most of her family has been living abroad — scattered from Japan to Colombia — because of Venezuela’s political and economic crises. She described the gathering as emotional and her own feelings as deeply conflicted.
“I’m convulsed; I have mixed feelings. It was tough seeing our country being bombed. But it was necessary to remove Maduro for his drug crimes and human rights violations,” she said. “What was clear to me, on that day where we gathered at the church, is that we all have faith that this will end.”
Church eyes a role in Venezuela’s next chapter
With interim President Delcy Rodríguez now in place and offering to collaborate with the Trump administration, Wenski said he hopes conditions for the Catholic Church in Venezuela will improve after years of tension with the Maduro and Chávez governments.
Wenski recalled that Cardinal Baltazar Porras, the archbishop emeritus of Caracas and a critic of the Maduro government, recently had his passport confiscated by Venezuelan immigration officials and was banned from traveling abroad.
Despite that history, Wenski said the Church remains one of the few independent institutions left in Venezuela.
“There have been over the years great tensions between the Maduro and Chavez regimes with the Catholic Church,” Wenski said. “And still, in Venezuela, the church is perhaps the only institution that is independent of the government, that can speak quite courageously about the situation in the country.”
Wenski said the Church intends to push for both democracy and national reconciliation in the period ahead.
“I think that the church should continue to speak up for democracy, but at the same time be patient, to be calm,” he said. “The church is always promoting reconciliation and certainly given the polarization in Venezuela over these years … the church has to be a voice urging reconciliation between the different factions and the different political opinions or political parties in the country.”