90% poverty #2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Father Romero sees needs everywhere. "Our work is about helping others go to heaven. Yet evangelization goes beyond declaration. We feed those who are hungry. Every week, we care for 300 to 400 homeless kids who have been taken off the streets. Other programs prevent people from falling into poverty."

But to keep this ministry going in a country of 90% poverty . . is difficult.

"Recently, many institutions offered help but the state is putting up barriers. It is not allowing them to come and help. Needs have increased. Three to four million Venezuelans have emigrated to neighboring countries. Today, 60 percent of the population lives off money that comes from other countries. It is a disaster."

"[Our] 94 priests want to help. That motivates them to be occupied in running soup kitchens, taking care of the sick and reinvigorating society. But there are limitations. Many are sick, and there is no transportation. . . Sometimes they get desperate because they don’t have the resources to do those things."

"[I]n Venezuela, they practice a 21st century type of socialism. The majority of the population does not accept this. I do not believe in this socialist system. This system of socialism humiliates and degrades people. There are those who want to divide us and assault the dignity of the human person."