Vatican City, Oct 20, 2025 / 14:23 pm

Underlying political tensions have surfaced among Venezuelans in Rome celebrating the recent canonization of the country’s first two saints, José Gregorio Hernández and Mother Carmen Rendiles Martínez.

A Venezuelan government delegation led by Carmen Meléndez, mayor of Caracas, and hundreds of pilgrims from the Latin American nation were among the 70,000 people who attended the Oct. 19 canonization ceremony led by Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter’s Square.

However, in the days prior to Venezuelans converging at the Vatican to celebrate their country’s newly-proclaimed saints, reports of evident discord between government officials and citizens regarding President Nicolás Maduro’s authoritarian regime have also emerged.

Over the weekend, activists connec

See Full Page