(RNS) — Four days after the U.S. military seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife in a strike on Caracas that took nearly everyone by surprise, liberal Christian denominations have begun to criticize the raid.
The bishops of the United Methodist Church on Wednesday (Jan. 7) issued a statement “condemning all acts of violence, military aggression, and violations of national sovereignty” and urging its members to pray for the Venezuelan people.
The United Methodist Church does not have churches in Venezuela, a mostly Catholic country with growing numbers of Protestants and other faiths, but it does have autonomous Methodist churches.
In the letter, the United Methodist bishops pointed to their social principles that oppose war and violence. It did not mention the deposed Venezuelan leader by name. Neither did it mention President Donald Trump, who ordered the raid that extracted Maduro from the country and brought him to a New York City jail. On Tuesday, he pleaded not guilty to federal drug and weapons charges.
The Episcopal Church was quicker to respond. An Action Alert released Saturday — the same day as the raid — by its Office of Government Relations condemned the use of military force “aimed at disrupting a non-imminent, uncertain military threat.” It also called on Congress to investigate the operation, which it said “marks a striking and unprecedented escalation of conflict.”
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The Episcopal Church has more skin in the game. The denomination has a diocese in Venezuela with 17 congregations and several more missions. The diocese’s provisional bishop, Cristóbal Olmedo León Lozano, is stationed in Ecuador.
“The Episcopal Church called for an investigation and accountability, first because of our 2009 resolution condemning ‘the first use of armed force in the form of a preventive or preemptive strike that is aimed at disrupting a non-imminent, uncertain military threat.,” said Rebecca Linder Blachly, chief of public policy and witness for the Episcopal Church. “Also, we are firm supporters of the United Nations, and this operation lacked legal authorization under international law, per the UN charter. Additionally, there was no congressional authorization for the use of military force nor advance notice to all required members of Congress.”
The Rev. Canon David Ulloa Chavez, the Episcopal Church’s partnership officer for Latin America and the Caribbean, said he has spoken via phone with the provisional bishop and has been assured that no church members have been injured so far.
“From what I understand, everyone is safe,” Chavez told RNS. “There is this sort of ambiguity around what is actually taking place. There’s sort of a nervous calm at this stage.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told members of Congress on Wednesday that the Trump administration has plans for a prolonged mission in the country that included taking control of its vast oil reserves.
Many Venezuelan migrants to the U.S. celebrated Maduro’s capture. Political and economic insecurity under Maduro’s authoritarian rule has led to an exodus of some 7.9 million Venezuelans as of December 2024, according to the Migration Policy Institute. As of 2023, some 770,000 Venezuelan immigrants had entered the U.S. In 2021, the Biden administration designated Venezuela for Temporary Protected Status, which grants legal immigration status to people fleeing countries facing armed conflict or humanitarian crises. Trump ended the program last year.
But inside the country, some have described an uneasy quiet and deep fears about what might come next.
Chavez said he and leaders in the Episcopal Church’s province that covers Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic and Honduras, are talking about how to better support Venezuelans who are leaving via its long western border with Colombia. “How do we partner for the sake of our migrating neighbors that are coming into not only our province, but throughout the region?” Chavez said.
Other liberal Protestant denominations have also condemned the U.S. action. The United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) released a joint statement condemning the attack, saying it posed a “troubling pattern of unlawful U.S. military activity, including the December 25, 2025, airstrikes in Nigeria.”
The World Council of Churches also condemned the raid and Maduro’s capture, saying the U.S. actions constituted “stunningly flagrant violations of international law.”
And Pope Leo XIV voiced “deep concern” over the situation. “The good of the beloved Venezuelan people must prevail over every other consideration,” he said in a Sunday address, with an appeal to end the violence and guarantee the country’s sovereignty.
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