During the celebration of Palm Sunday Mass in the cathedral of the capital of Venezuela, Archbishop of Caracas Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino said: “We must defend our rights and the rights of others, without resorting to violence, instead following the Constitution and the laws of our country.”

Savino urged the people who packed the cathedral not to lose hope in the face of the present serious situation in Venezuela.

The cardinal concluded with a call to take part in all the Holy Week liturgies all over the country and to pray for God’s help to improve the situation.

The country’s Catholic bishops warned against a slide “toward dictatorship”, and backed peaceful protests. “It’s time to ask ourselves seriously and responsibly if civil disobedience, peaceful demonstrations, and fair complaints directed at national and international bodies are the valid and opportune path forward,” the bishops said.

‘I am not a heretic’ – Jesuit head

Fr Arturo Sosa Abascal, the superior general of the Society of Jesus, has strongly denied that he was in any way guilty of heresy when he discussed possible interpretations of the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ teachings on marriage.

In an interview, Fr Sosa had said Christ’s teaching should be seen as reflecting a particular cultural context. He also said his words were not tape-recorded, raising the possibility that he was not quoted verbatim. In another interview the Jesuit superior general denied that his intent was to undercut the mean­­ing of Jesus’ words. “It’s exactly the opposite,” he said. “When we interpret, it’s to understand better what Jesus said.”

Interests detrimental to common good

Speaking to members of the National Committee for Biosafety, Biotechnology and Life Sciences, Pope Francis said: “When the interplay between technological power and economic power becomes closer, interests can condition lifestyles and social trends in the direction of the profit of certain industrial and commercial groups, to the detriment of the populations and the poorest nations.

“It is not easy to arrive at a harmonious composition of the different scientific, productive, ethical, social, economic and political interests, promoting sustainable development that respects the ‘common home’. This harmonious composition requires humility, courage and openness to the comparison bet­ween the different positions, in the certainty that the witness given by men of science to truth and the common good contributes to the maturation of social conscience.”

(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)

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