Caracas, Venezuela, Oct 22, 2025 /
17:34 pm
Nicolás Maduro, president of Venezuela, accused Cardinal Baltazar Porras of conspiring to prevent the canonization of Venezuela’s first male saint, José Gregorio Hernández.
“There were many people who conspired from the highest [levels of the] Curia against José Gregorio,” Maduro said on an Oct. 20 television program.
“Some priests, like Baltazar Porras, dedicated their lives to conspiring against José Gregorio Hernández. I say this by name: Baltazar Porras dedicated his entire life to ensuring that José Gregorio would not [be declared a saint], but Baltazar Porras has been defeated by God, by the people, and today José Gregorio is a saint despite you [Porras] and your people,” said the president, who did not attend the canonization ceremony at the Vatican.
On Oct. 19, along with Venezuelan nun Carmen Rendiles and five others, Hernández, known as the “doctor of the poor,” was canonized by Pope Leo XIV.
Those close to Porras told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that the cardinal will not respond to Maduro’s accusations.
Maduro holds the leadership of Venezuela’s government but is accused, nationally and internationally, of committing fraud in the 2024 presidential election, in which he was allegedly reelected for a third six-year term.
The controversial Venezuelan leader is facing accusations of drug trafficking and terrorism by the U.S. government, which accuses him of heading a criminal organization known as the Cartel de los Soles.
In addition, the U.S. State Department has offered a $50 million reward “for information leading to the arrest or conviction” of the socialist leader. It is the largest reward offered for the capture of a criminal in the history of the United States.
Maduro’s verbal attack on the archbishop emeritus of Caracas is part of a long history of abuses and threats by the socialist government against the Catholic Church in Venezuela, a practice that appears to be intensifying with the canonization of the country’s first two saints.
The socialist leader’s reaction comes after Porras called last week for the release of all political prisoners in Venezuela, who currently number more than 800, according to the organization Foro Penal.
“We live in a morally unacceptable situation; the decline in the exercise of civil liberties, the growth of poverty, militarization as a form of government that incites violence and introduces it as part of daily life, corruption and the lack of autonomy of public institutions, and the disrespect for the will of the people create a panorama that does not contribute to peaceful coexistence or to overcoming the structural shortcomings of society,” Porras said at an event held at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome.
At the same event, Venezuelan Vatican journalist Edgar Beltrán was assaulted by businessman Ricardo Cisneros, a member of the Venezuelan government delegation.
During the event, Beltrán’s interview with the Vatican’s substitute for the Secretariat of State, Archbishop Edgar Robinson Peña Parra, was forcibly interrupted by Cisneros after the prelate was asked about the Maduro government’s “apparent politicization” of the canonizations, according to Catholic news outlet The Pillar.
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin offered a Mass of thanksgiving on Oct. 20 for the canonization of the first two Venezuelan saints, during which he also denounced the existence of “unjust imprisonment” and “oppression” in the country.
Shortly before the canonization Mass on Oct. 19, Porras expressed his “deep joy” and described the event as a “historic moment” for all of Venezuela.
“I give thanks to God for allowing me to share it with all of you,” the archbishop emeritus said at the time.
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This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Andrés Henríquez is a Venezuelan writer specializing in religion and politics with more than five years of experience in bilingual media. He is a member of the Regnum Christi Federation.
