Venezuela It is a predominantly Catholic country, but the exact number of devotees is difficult to determine. Since the government has not published official figures in more than a decade, the current religious landscape can only be gauged through projections and independent fieldwork.
An evangelical pastor is on the ballot for the July 28 election, but Javier Bertucci has little chance of battling President Nicolás Maduro, who is seeking a third consecutive term.
Religion has not played a key role in this electoral race. However, it has been intertwined with politics, especially during the mandate of the late former president Hugo Chavez, who became a cult figure for dozens of Venezuelans and distanced himself from the Catholic Church by embracing popular religiosity.
Here is a look at the religious context of Venezuela.
What does the law say?
The Constitution guarantees freedom of religion and worship. It also dictates that every person has the right to profess his or her faith and manifest his or her beliefs as long as they do not contradict morality, good customs and public order. In addition, it establishes the independence of churches and each family is free to choose whether their children receive religious education or not.
According to a 2023 U.S. government report on religious freedom in Venezuela, faith communities freely profess their beliefs as long as they refrain from criticizing the government. Catholic and evangelical representatives have said that Maduro supporters verbally harass members of their institutions if they draw attention to the country’s humanitarian crisis.
What religion do Venezuelans identify with?
Without official figures at hand, all estimates agree that the population is predominantly Catholic. According to the US government report for 2023, 96% of the population would be Catholic and the rest would include other faiths.
From Venezuela, one of the most recent investigations was led by the Andrés Bello Catholic University and dates back to 2016.
Enrique Alí González, a sociologist who compared the figures with his experience in the field, estimates that the current religious landscape could be the following: Catholics, 82%-84%, Evangelicals (without distinguishing denomination) 10%-12%followers of Santeria 1.5%-2% and atheists 1%Jehovah’s Witnesses, Muslims, Baha’is and other minorities would make up the remaining percentage.
According to the expert, the largest concentration of evangelicals is in the state of Apure —bordering Colombia—, while Santeria is more present in Caracas. In addition, some Venezuelans participate in two religions: many devotees of spiritualism —whose highest representative is María Lionza, a female deity venerated on the Sorte Mountain— are also Catholic.
Does religion impact current politics?
Religious beliefs are not perceived as a defining factor in the July 28 elections. According to sociologist Hugo Pérez Hernáiz, beyond the fact that evangelical pastor Bertucci appears on a ballot, religious affiliation will hardly determine what the ballot boxes yield.“A person won’t tell you that their belief in God is what’s driving them to vote.”
The way in which it does have an influence, explains Alí González, is through social and spiritual support.
In a country where poverty affects more than 90% of the population, the religious organization Caritas offers communal pots and nutritional supplements for boys and girls.
“And, of course, there is also pastoral accompaniment,” add. “Because what is left for you when you live in such a miserable situation?” “Faith, and when faith is solid, it becomes hope.”
What has been the relationship between the government and the churches?
Back in 2013, when he was just seeking power, Nicolás Maduro said that while he was praying in a chapel, the late Hugo Chávez appeared to him in the form of a little bird and blessed him.
The video produced all kinds of reactions, but it was not surprising. Claiming that the bishops were “demons” and favoring the cult of María Lionza, it was usual for Chávez himself to show himself closer to spiritualism than to the Catholic Church.
According to Ali Gonzalez, there have been several clashes between rulers and Catholic leaders in Venezuelan history.
The first occurred in the 19th century, when President Antonio Guzmán (1870-1887) tried to supplant the Church with a vision that incorporated Freemasonry and Protestantism. After his death, anti-Catholicism declined, European congregations returned to Venezuela, and several subsequent governments stayed away as long as the Church did not intervene in politics.
In the mid-1940s, there was a second rupture when a political sector attached to socialism undertook new anti-clerical actions. Tempers cooled with the return to democracy in the 1950s and it was not until Chávez came to power in the late 1990s that the rift reopened.
According to Ali Gonzalez, Chavez promoted a kind of deification or “human cult” that some experts call “atheist religion” in line with the “guevarism” either ““fidelism”, derived from the fervor that leaders such as Ernesto “Che” Guevara and Fidel Castro still inspire.
At the same time, Chavez proposed to reduce the cult of the Catholic Church by allying himself with evangelical sectors. For example, he removed the chaplaincies from the prisons and ceded that territory to the evangelicals.
What has become of religion under Chavismo?
Some priests supported Chavez and Maduro. Others opposed them. And, at one of the most critical points of the protests that erupted in 2017, Pope Francis called for dialogue and peace.
Religiously speaking, Maduro describes himself as a spiritual man who has publicly made allusions to both Catholic and evangelical practices. And as president, in his relationship with the Church, he often follows in the footsteps of his predecessor. Although he has traveled to the Vatican to meet the Pope and celebrates the Venezuelan Blessed José Gregorio Hernández, he has also criticized Catholic leaders and they have criticized him.
More recently, its outreach to evangelical churches has increased. In 2023, it launched the program “My well-equipped church” to improve and restore Christian temples and his son presides over a state office of Religious Affairs for “strengthening support for Christian sectors.”
Has religiosity changed due to the crisis?
Although some reports indicate that Venezuelan spirituality has gained strength due to the economic and political crisis, Pérez Hernáiz explains that this claim is not supported by data.
“There has always been a very strong substratum of popular religiosity in Venezuela“, says. “And what is commonly called ‘Santeria’ is a range of popular spiritualities that are mixed with more formal religious expressions, such as Catholicism.”
According to him, after reviewing the membership figures of various religious communities, academics agree that the number of Pentecostals has increased, but without official data it is impossible to specify how much. This increase is consistent with what experts in the region and the United States have reported in Latin America in the last five years.
Source: Gestion
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