Regarding the surprise attack on Venezuela and the capture of Nicholas Maduro and his wife, I point to the statement of our Holy Father Pope Leo XIV delivered after the Angelus address on 4 January 2026:
The good of the beloved Venezuelan people must prevail over every other consideration. This must lead to the overcoming of violence, and to the pursuit of paths of justice and peace, guaranteeing the sovereignty of the country, ensuring the rule of law enshrined in its Constitution, respecting the human and civil rights of each and every person, and working together to build a peaceful future of cooperation, stability and harmony, with special attention to the poorest who are suffering because of the difficult economic situation. I pray for all this, and I invite you to pray too, entrusting our prayer to the intercession of Our Lady of Coromoto, and to Saints José Gregorio Hernández and Carmen Rendiles.
I also lament how the Pope’s words for January 1, the World Day of Prayer for Peace, in which he reiterated the call for an “unarmed and disarming peace” were completely ignored by the US administration in pursuit of its own ill-defined goals and with reckless disregard for human life and rule of law.
While there are many people happy to see the end of the government of Nicholas Maduro, the intervention of the US without any public debate or congressional approval is not a step toward justice or progress.
As followers of the non-violent Christ who came among us as a little child to lead us into the ways of peace, we have a duty to promote peace in our homes, our community and our world. We must also pray for peace with justice in our nation and in the ways our nation relates to the rest of the world.
Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
+ John Stowe, OFM Conv.
4 January 2026, Solemnity of the Lord’s Epiphany