The Venezuelan government has come under fire for trying to undermine the country's bishops and encouraging the faithful to turn away from them.
In a strongly worded attack, Archbishop Ubaldo Santana of Maracaibo accused the government of discrediting the bishops who have openly criticized the administration's social and economic record over the past four years.
"The most difficult problem that the Church faces is the denigrating of the Venezuelan episcopal conference," the archbishop said.
The archbishop, whose diocese is in the northwest of the country, criticized the deterioration of living standards among key sections of society, a problem that he blamed on the Venezuelan authorities' attempts to centralize government.
In an interview with Aid to the Church in Need, the German-based Catholic charity that supports persecuted and oppressed Christians, the archbishop said that Venezuela's difficulties were compounded by delays in the payment of government subsidies to schools.
"These delays have restricted the functioning of schools," which the Church is involved with, he noted. Thus, he urged ACN to continue its support for the Church in Venezuela.