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 VENEZUELA

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VENEZUELA

the legislation establishing oivil marriage, unions entered into by those in Holy orders; the design, how- ever, was frustrated by an outraged pubhc conscience, and this article of the Code was suppressed.

The struggle terminated in 1S75, w-hen Mgr. Gue- vara abdicated the See of Caracas at the suggestion of Pius IX and through the mediation of Mgr. Rocca Cocchia, delegate Apostolic. But the wounds inflicted on the Church were deep, the consequent diminu- tion of her strength was dangerous, and the process of convalescence which followed was, in the existing political conditions of the country, necessarily slow- in its inception. At present the reaction seems hardly to be commencing, the fatal consequences having gone to extreme lengths, and the problem of bringing that reaction to a successful issue is fraught with difficulties. During the tw-enty years of Guzm.ln Blanco's tyranny, laws were imposed on Venezuela which greatly hampered the salutary action of the Church. These laws continue to exist because, unhappily, the same principles of antagonism are dominant among the legislators of the country; though, by reason of the good will which subsequent rulers of the republic have entertained towards the Church, they have effected less harm than they might have done under a more drastic apphcation. To ensure compliance with the law, the Registro Civil, created by Guzman Blanco, prohibited the recording of bajitisms in parish books without a corresponding entry in the public register of births; and in sub- sequent amendments of the Code additional provi- sions have been made to the prejudice of the Church's rights in the custody of parochial archives. With the same purpose in view, the civil marriage instituted by Guziniln Blanco prescribed, under heavy penalties, the precedence of the civil over the religious cere- mony, and surrounded the former with so many formalities and difficulties as to make marriage extremely ditticult. This law has become a constant source of public demoralization. On account of the difficulties here indicated, aggravated by abuses on the part of subordinate officials and the extortion of pecuniary payments which the law itself prohibits, marriages have become very infrequent, while it has been extremely difficult for the Church to exercise her moral power in this respect. Concubinage is not infrequent in the country. In the last reform of the Civil Code, Cipriano Castro, exercising a brutal despotism over the national conscience, introduced a divorce law, though repugnant to the people. The present (1912) government of Venezuela, however, presided over by Juan Vicente G6mez, has taken effec- tive steps to improve the situation, perceiving plainly the deplorable moral and social effects which have resulted from the degradation of the marriage con- tract and heeding the zealous remonstrance of the bishops. A recently issued government order (12 October, 1911) has for its object the extermination of these abuses, and promises, moreover, to lay once more before the national congress the bill for revision of the laws concerning civil marriage. It nmst also be stated that the administration of Gen. G6mez has shown marked consideration to the Church, thereby affording a remedy for many of the evils that have beset her.

The Venezuelan Code recognizes the right of the Church to acquire and possess property, but curtails it to a great degree by closing th<' two most usual and effective ways of acquiring proj)erty for ecclesiastical institutions, viz., donations and be quests. The Code prohibits acquisition of property in these ways by churches, and even persons in Holy orders are for- bidden to receive anything under testamentary dis- position or by gift outside of the eighth civil (fourth ecclesia-stical) degree. Thus the Church in Vene- zuela, despoiled of almost all that it once po.ssessed, has been unable to recover itseK in this respect, and is

placed in pecuniary straits which preclude it from energetic social action and from rising out of the prostrate condition in which it was left by the perse- cutor. As a matter of fact, it can count only on the poor offerings of the faithful for the functions of re- ligion, while the clergy with difiiculty sui)port them- selves on stipends. The State now provides, under the head of ecclesiastical appropriations, only for the maintenance of prelates and chapters, and that with really insutheient sums, although, when the tithes were abolished by the Decree of 6 April, 1833, an en- gagement was entered into "to defraj' the expenses of public worship ". This ecclesiastical budget has been incessantly mutilated, so that the state subvention be- comes more and more precarious. The Go\-ernment, however, punctually takes care of the church buildings and exempts from import duties all articles intended for the service of religion.

When the power of Guzmdn Blanco was broken, a reaction in favour of the Church set in, and in conse- quence, as well as by the operation of the inevitable law of human progress, certain advantages gained for the interests of religion may now be discerned in the country. To be sure, this recovery has been only very slow; the Church has nothing to rely upon but the good will of those who wield the supreme powder, so that there is always the fear of some despotic ex- cess on their part, or of their falling under some sinister influence. There have, moreover, been very unfortunate periods in the administration of the Church; a certain section of Venezuelan "intellectu- als" are far from sympathetic with the Catholic cause, and the Church does not possess in Venezuela any large number of subjects capable of pushing the defence of Cathohcism with brilliant success. There is nothing but the inherent power of the Faith to operate in society and in individual souls for the re- covery of its legitimate influence.

In 18S6 the Government it.self introduced into Ven- ezuela the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph of Tarbes and entrusted to them the service of the hospitals. The Sisters founded educational establishments for girls, which arc still considered among the best of their kind in the country. The two best are at Caracas: but the congregation also has efficiently conducted colleges at Valencia, Puerto Cabello, and Barquisi- meto. Later on, another congregation of Sisters of Charity, tho.se of St. Anne (Spanish), established themselves at Maracaibo, Merida, and Ciudad Boli- var; at present, however, they are found only at Maracaibo. Other institutes of women afterwards began to appear in the count ry,devot cd t o t he service of charity, catechetical teaching, and, in some degree, the contemplative life, but not cloistered. Among these may be mentioned in particular the Little Sisters of the Poor of Maiquetia, the Servants of the Most Holy Sacrament, and the Franciscan Sisters. All of these work with great abnegation for the respective objects of their institutes, and do a great deal to main- tain the influence of religion among the jjeople.

With a view to providing for the evangehzation of the aborigines, some thousands of whom still hvc as sav.ages in the regions of the (Orinoco, the (■overnment invited Capuchin monks to Venezuela in 1891. The work among the Indians has not been successfully completed, but t he Capuchins have done very merit ori- ous work as missionaries, a.ssisting prelates in their apostolic journeyings, preaching to the people in many districts, and greatly fostering piety in the cities where they are stationed. At present they ha\-e resi- dences at Caracas and Maracaibo. At the invitation of the Government, the Salcsians came to Venezuela in 1894. This congregation has been obliged to exer- cise its mission slowly and has not yet attained the full development of its programme; it has, however, i)ro- ceeded with a persistent firmness the efhcacy of which is seen in the results obtained in the education of