Episcopal Church officials are responding skeptically following the arrest of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, flown to New York on Saturday to face charges following a joint U.S. law enforcement and military operation.
A statement issued January 3 through the Episcopal Public Policy Network, the Episcopal Church’s advocacy arm, refers to the arrest as an “unauthorized operation” and calls for a congressional investigation and accountability for “related military actions carried out in recent months.”
The carrier USS Gerald R. Ford has been stationed near the U.S. Virgin Islands since late 2025 in support operations against transnational criminal organizations and counter-narcotics efforts to “defeat and dismantle criminal networks that exploit our shared borders and maritime domains” according to a statement from the Department of the Navy.
The U.S.-based Episcopal Church has several mostly small dioceses in Latin America and the Caribbean, including in both Venezuela and nearby Cuba. Venezuela does not presently have its own diocesan bishop and is served by Episcopal Diocese of Litoral Ecuador Bishop Cristobal León Lozano as bishop provisional.
The July 3 statement quotes a 2009 General Convention resolution that does not specifically mention Venezuela but “condemn[s] in any nation the first use of armed force in the form of a preventive or pre-emptive strike that is aimed at disrupting a non-imminent, uncertain military threat.”
“Even as we recognize that intervention in sovereign states can sometimes be necessary to prevent atrocities, we discourage ‘the abuse of this norm to rationalize military actions in sovereign states for political ends,’” the statement reads.
The statement notes that church officials have “spoken with and offered support” to Lozano and Province XI President and Episcopal Diocese of Honduras Bishop Lloyd Allen, but neither are quoted, nor are any members of the Venezuelan church itself.
“We urge all regional parties to support a peaceful transition that respects the rule of law and the will of the Venezuelan people. Join us in praying for our siblings in the Diocese of Venezuela and the Venezuelan people,” the statement reads.
The Diocese of Venezuela has had spotty parochial reporting, with 925 members and an attendance of 295 in 2023, dropping from the 507 it reported unchanged from 2015 to 2019. Attendance dropped in the most recent reporting year to 13 persons (the Episcopal Church did not report updated membership numbers for 2024). Church statistical tables count 17 parishes and missions in Venezuela, with 24 baptisms and seven burials in 2023.
Mainline Protestant churches and the ecumenical councils they affiliate with have long sided with leftist governments in Latin America, sometimes citing liberation theology that presents Jesus Christ as a political revolutionary seeking to overthrow the forces of “Empire.”
World Council of Churches General Secretary Jerry Pillay released his own January 3 statement calling the U.S. attack and the capture and detention of Maduro and his wife “stunningly flagrant violations of international law.”
“These actions set a dangerous precedent and example for others who seek to shrug off all constraints against the use of armed aggression and brute force to achieve political objectives,” Pillay wrote in the statement on behalf of the WCC.
In 2020, the National Council of Churches, of which the Episcopal Church is a member communion, stated “Given our solidarity with the people of Venezuela and our commitment to peace with justice … We condemn any military intervention in Venezuela, directly or indirectly promoted by the U.S. or through third nations.”
Comment by Glenn Wheeler on January 6, 2026 at 8:36 pm
The fact that “Mainline Protestant churches and the ecumenical councils they affiliate with have long sided with leftist governments in Latin America” does not mean that their position is unjustified in this instance.
I am about as far as you can get from supporting “leftist governments in Latin America,” but this action was a horrible atrocity and is certainly not worthy of what the United States should stand for. It is an absolute disgrace that the United States has descended to such an action, and God help us if we continue to go down such degenerate roads. It’s satanic.
Comment by Qohelet on January 6, 2026 at 10:10 pm
I substantially agree with Glenn here. This is not mainline protestantism standing up for leftist governments; we’re standing up for the post WWII precedent that nations are sovereign entities and you can’t just invade them and depose their government on a whim. This respect for borders and using diplomacy to negotiate them instead of guns has prevented large scale regional wars from breaking out for nearly 90 years.
The distrust of mainline Christians from the IRD makes sense given its history on Latin American issues, but it’s depressing it hasn’t changed. Leftist governments and liberation theology are the enemies,but what about right wing dictatorships? How come we never hear the IRD talking about how bad Pinochet was, or about the Guatemalan death squads that killed Bishop Romero and Father Rother? The truth is that the US has seriously damaged Latin America for years for our benefit, not for the benefit of God or human dignity. We overthrew Arbenz to protect the US fruit companies. We overthrew Allende to protect the US copper companies. And we turned a blind eye to the human rights abuses that followed because it was never about ideology or morality; it’s always been simply about money.
This new chapter in world history started when Putin invaded Ukraine claiming it was in his sphere of influence. Now Trump wants to revive the Monroe Doctrine and go back to screwing up Latin America as we see fit. Of course Xi will want his sphere as well.
Christians should oppose all of this. Good on the Episcopalians for doing so.
Comment by Salvatore Anthony Luiso on January 7, 2026 at 12:10 am
One doesn’t need to be sympathetic to Maduro or his government to be skeptical about Operation Absolute Resolve.
One can even be against Maduro and his government while also being against that operation.
Adherents of the Trump Cult may not be able to understand that, but it’s true.
Does the author of the article think all Christians should approve of that foolish, hypocritical, illegal, and deadly act of war?
Comment by Glenn Wheeler on January 7, 2026 at 12:14 am
Qohelet,
I would encourage you to go back and look at the history of World War Two. Each side took over areas they perceived would give them an advantage. That’s exactly what you’re seeing now. World War Three has already started. It just hasn’t been named yet.
So who do you think is going to win? Some old, broken down blowbag whose bankrupt country only exists because it prints money out of thin air? Don’t you think that the other powers of the world see this and recognize the import of it?
The wheels of history turn slowly, and the crumbling empire may yet win a few more skirmishes. But just wait 50 or so years until it all plays out.
The chickens will come home to roost.
Comment by John on January 7, 2026 at 9:08 am
Notice something? The IRD criticized the responses of mainline churches to the operation in Venezuela, but doesn’t offer a response of its own. Whether they’ll admit it or not, I think they’re also uncomfortable with the way Maduro was taken, the fact it happened without so much as a consultation with Congress, the half-backed scheme Trump proposed for the U.S. running the country during his press conference, and the fact he said the quiet part out loud that he wants their oil. The IRD is sitting on their hands, waiting to see how things play out while bashing others for taking a position. At least, they learned something from Iraq, I guess.
Comment by Wilson R. on January 7, 2026 at 1:13 pm
The intellectual dishonesty in this piece by Jeffrey Walton is just breathtaking. It diminishes the credibility of the entire IRD organization.
First off, the criticism of this military intervention has nothing to do with support for liberation theology. In fact, because the Maduro regime repressed and impoverished ordinary people, liberation theology would be presumed here to SUPPORT the overthrow of that regime.
Second, liberation theology was the product mostly of Catholic priests and bishops in Latin America, not mainline Protestants. And I have found over the course of many years that mainline Protestants, including political liberals, have mixed feelings about liberation theology. They agree with liberation theologists that God’s kingdom prioritizes the poor and marginalized, because they have never been included in the beloved community in which “first” and “last” are no longer operative concepts. But they have been much less likely to support the ways that liberation theology has been turned into violent revolutionary movements, as in, say, Nicaragua.
Perhaps the most offensive, “tar-with-a-communist-brush” phrase is this one, describing “liberation theology that presents Jesus Christ as a political revolutionary seeking to overthrow the forces of ‘Empire.’” You don’t have to embrace liberation theology to understand that, even though Jesus and Paul were not seeking to gain political power, through revolution or otherwise, the gospel was perceived by Roman authorities as a threat to the foundations of the empire. All you have to do is read the gospels and book of Acts.
Likewise, you can recognize as Maduro as an evil actor while arguing that it is bad policy, even immoral policy, for an outside nation to impose its will without the voice of the Venezuelan people–especially when that outside nation leaves the rest of the evil regime in place and essentially says that its only interest is oil.
Comment by Wilson R. on January 7, 2026 at 2:55 pm
One more thing, about the dangerously disengenous claim that mainstream churches support left-wing governments:
What Jeffrey Walton ignores is that “we” (the US government, and the majority of mainstream churches that trustingly supported our government’s policies) were complicit in the murderous, anti-Christian policies of right-wing governments in these countries.
We supported the military dictatorship in Brazil that imprisoned, tortured, and murdered thousands of political prisoners. We even trained their security forces in torture techniques. This issue never even got on the radar screens of most maintstream US congregations.
We supported the military junta in Argentina that “disappeared” thousands, tortured many more, and stole the children from their victims and adopted them out to the families of military officers.
We helped organize the coup in Chile that brought the murderous dictator Pinochet to power.
We supported the right-wing regime in El Salvador that operated death squads that murdered priests and nuns, while the US-trained Atlacatl Battalion wiped out entire villages of people caught between the government and the rebels.
We supported the right-wing government of Guatemala, whose military wiped out numerous villages of indigenous Mayans simply because they lived in areas where rebels were active.
We supported the dictator Somoza in Nicaragua, and after his fall, we supported contra rebels who actually committed more atrocities than the violent Sandinistas.
Under the regimes in Argentina and Guatemala, it was illegal to publicly read, sing, or distribute Mary’s song, the Magnificat, because the regimes interpreted it as subversive. Not a peep from IRD about infringement on religious liberties in cases like that. Not a bit of introspection from Jeffrey Walton about the statement of murdered Archbishop Romero, who said, “When I give food to the poor they call me a saint; when I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.”
Comment by Different Steve on January 7, 2026 at 3:00 pm
I’m not sure IRD deserves the level of outrage being directed at it here. Read straightforwardly, this article mostly reports what the Episcopal Church and related bodies actually said, places it in historical context, and refrains from offering an explicit endorsement of the Venezuela operation. That’s not propaganda; it’s reporting.
Several commenters seem to assume that describing a long-standing pattern of mainline church opposition to U.S. interventions is the same thing as condemning that opposition. It isn’t. Noting history is not the same as adjudicating it. Likewise, mentioning liberation theology doesn’t automatically reduce every critique of U.S. power to Marxism—it simply acknowledges an intellectual current that has shaped ecumenical responses in the region over decades.
What’s odd is that many of the strongest reactions accuse IRD of failing to take a moral stand, while simultaneously insisting that only one moral interpretation is acceptable. That’s not critique; it’s narrative enforcement. If the only permissible reporting is reporting that reaches a pre-approved conclusion, then we’re no longer talking about journalism or analysis, but advocacy.
It’s entirely reasonable to oppose the operation against Maduro. It’s also reasonable to think the Episcopal Church’s statement raises legitimate questions. But it’s also reasonable for IRD to document those facts without acting as judge, jury, and theologian-in-chief.
If anything, the intensity of the backlash suggests how difficult it has become to report sensitive issues without being conscripted into one side’s moral storyline.
Comment by Wilson R. on January 7, 2026 at 3:45 pm
Speaking for myself, the outrage is directed not at IRD but at this particular writer. And the rather equivocating statement by the Episcopal Church is not the issue for me. The issue is the vicious old canard that “mainstream” liberal churches reflexively support left-wingers in the name of liberation and social justice. It’s a trashy rhetorical tactic used by trashy rhetoricians to mislabel opponents and silence debate.
Comment by Glenn Wheeler on January 7, 2026 at 4:01 pm
My issue is neither with IRD nor the writer. My issue is that the United States is being destroyed.
Comment by Wilson R. on January 7, 2026 at 4:23 pm
Yeah, well, there’s also that…
But you’re not likely to hear much about it from IRD unless it involves gays.
Comment by John on January 7, 2026 at 7:12 pm
Different Steve,
The IRD is not a news organization and has never presented itself as such. It writes commentary, not news. They critique, they judge, they condemn, and they’re not shy about it. Specifically they constant watch mainline churches like hawks waiting for something to call fowl about, which is exactly what they’re doing here. They’re basically theological ambulance chasers. However, they at least usually offer their own position to challenge that of the mainline liberals. They did not do that here, nor do I think they will until the have a better idea of which way the right-wing winds are blowing.
Comment by Skipper on January 8, 2026 at 11:58 am
Since Episcopalians perform same-sex marriages and other pagan behaviors, how can you even figure their opinion is worth considering?
Comment by Qohelet on January 8, 2026 at 1:34 pm
Since MAGA Evangelicals don’t feed the hungry or thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, or visit the sick and imprisoned, how can you even figure their opinion is worth considering?
Comment by Joe M on January 8, 2026 at 3:30 pm
An evil ruler was pulled from office.
It was a good act, even if a politically questionable one.
Thus ever to tyrants.
Comment by Joe M on January 8, 2026 at 3:32 pm
“The U.S.-based Episcopal Church has several mostly small dioceses in Latin America and the Caribbean…”
It has no large dioceses. It is a dying church.
Comment by Glenn Wheeler on January 8, 2026 at 8:39 pm
Joe M,
You’re parroting the “evil dictator” narrative you got from the Trump-supporting media.
Comment by Coach on January 8, 2026 at 10:06 pm
Re: the comment “It’s satanic”, posted by the first commenter.
Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?
Some folks have had the opportunity to label governmental sponsored legalized abortion “satanic” for years. Unfortunately, babies must not count.
Shameful. Blind guides.
Comment by Skipper on January 8, 2026 at 10:30 pm
The Lord knows who feeds the hungry or thirsty, but how do you know?
Comment by Glenn Wheeler on January 8, 2026 at 10:49 pm
Coach,
In judging me, you yourself are passing judgement. So the Bible verse you took out of context and weaponized against me apples equally to you, too!!!
But, sadly, you do not see that because you have been deceived
Comment by Glenn Wheeler on January 8, 2026 at 11:01 pm
You people whine about aborted fetuses but yet you hate 75% of the people of the world and see them as worthless insects
Comment by Coach on January 9, 2026 at 12:23 am
Blind guide,
If you think lamenting the deaths of 60 million babies is whining, your words have convicted yourself.
For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.
Comment by Glenn Wheeler on January 9, 2026 at 7:30 am
Coach,
It is significant that in your tirade, you never denied hating 75% of the people in the world nor did you deny seeing them as insects.
Comment by Coach on January 9, 2026 at 9:06 am
Blind guide,
By their fruit, you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
Tirade? Lol. Your deflection from the truth speaks volumes. Nor did you deny supporting human sacrifice. I pray for your poor misguided soul.
Blind guide. Thornbush. Shame on you.
Comment by Qohelet on January 9, 2026 at 10:00 am
Amen Glenn.
And Skipper, all of us know pretty darn well who doesn’t welcome the stranger. They brag about it and like Glenn said, speak of the stranger as if he’s vermin
Comment by Coach on January 9, 2026 at 12:16 pm
You know, do ya? Generalize much?
Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.
Comment by Skipper on January 9, 2026 at 2:38 pm
Welcoming the stranger doesn’t mean you have to open your borders for anyone and everyone. Some want to destroy our country. Others want to take advantage of our system, such as the Somalis in Minnesota.
Comment by Qohelet on January 9, 2026 at 3:05 pm
These ICE raids aren’t about closing the border. They’re about deporting people who have been here for years, the vast majority of whom have no criminal record.
There’s very little the Bible is more clear about than how wrong this all is. Leviticus 19:33-34 (KJV)
And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
Make a choice. You can’t serve God and Trump. They have different demands.
Comment by Coach on January 9, 2026 at 4:09 pm
Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, render unto God, what is God’s.
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain.
Not a good look there Mr Resister. I would say I am praying for improved reading comprehension for you, but I honestly think you know what scripture says and means. I think you would benefit for prayer to unstiffen your neck and be obedient.
If you love me, keep my commandments.
Comment by Qohelet on January 9, 2026 at 8:53 pm
Romans 13 is not a commandment to be a bootlicker. In Acts 5 the apostles tell the Sanhedrin that they have to obey God rather than men and that’s why they continued to preach in defiance of the order.
We’re commanded to submit to authority, but the authority has the responsibility to do God’s work too.
The Leviticus command is blunt, and you still haven’t explained why you’re ignoring it
Comment by Coach on January 9, 2026 at 10:49 pm
1. God wants us to love our neighbor.
2. God wants us to follow the rules of our governmental authorities.
3. The Hebrew word ger is translated as sojourner or to live as an alien and is the original Hebrew term used in Leviticus 19.
4. The are other 2 Hebrew words nekhar and zar are translated as foreigner and are not in the original Hebrew of Leviticus 19.
5. The term ger, used in Leviticus 19, refers to a person legally in a country, not a foreigner.
Borders were recognized even in the Old Testament times. Stones, rivers, mountains, and valleys were sometimes used, and these borders were identified and controlled to a degree, and wars were fought over these. The tombs of the Pharaohs even held entry permits- early visas if you can believe that. But obviously, it was nothing like it is today. History shows us evidence of this.
6. The Old Testament describes Joseph’s family having to request permission from Pharoah to settle in Egypt in the time of the famine even though Joseph was high up in Pharoahs government. The term used was ger-same as Leviticus 19- to settle or sojourn in Egypt.
Moses sent messengers to request entry to pass thru from Kadesh to Edom. They even offered to pay. They were not allowed to pass through. The border was controlled. The word used here is not ger-to settle or sojourn. The same trrm is used when Moses wanted to sojourn or live in the land of Midian. Numbers 15 uses the term ger or sojourner to show these two will be treated the same.
7. Nekher -foreigners- could be charged interest, unlike Hebrews an ger who could not. But they were required to follow the laws of the Sabbath and dietary laws just like Jews and ger. These are just two of several examples off the top of my head in Numbers and Leviticus that illustrate the difference between ger-sojourners and foreigners-nekhar.
8. So the Old Testament illustrates that we should love all and follow laws, but that there are different expectations for residents (Jews), legal immigrants (ger) or sojourners, and foreigners (nekher).
9. Many modern translations just use the term “strangers” in place of all three terms- ger, nekher, and zar. This leads to some difficulty, as in your original quote of Leviticus 19.
10. God loves every single person on earth, regardless of political persuasion. Jesus lived , died, and rose again for each and every one of us sinners on earth. And each and every one of us is called to love everyone we encounter in this life. Red or yellow, black or white, we are precious in His sight.
Sorry it took so long to type this. I sm using a cell phone and I am old.
Comment by Glenn Wheeler on January 9, 2026 at 10:52 pm
Coach,
This stuff about submitting to authority is double edged. Maduro had authority in Venezuela. Therefore, going against him was going against authority and therefore unbiblical
You see, if you’re going to apply these things, they have to be applied universally. But of course, in your hate and self-righteousness, you don’t see that.
And you never will.
Comment by Coach on January 9, 2026 at 11:16 pm
God bless you Glenn. You do a great job at virtue signaling, but actions speak louder than words and that hate in your heart is gonna kill you.
Comment by Glenn Wheeler on January 9, 2026 at 11:21 pm
Coach,
Instead of attacking me, why don’t you comment about how what you consider a biblical injunction against going against authority does not apply to going against the authority in Venezuela?
Comment by Coach on January 9, 2026 at 11:44 pm
I cannot believe you aren’t pope!!! What a wonderful guy you are!!! Let me see if your halo is so large it shows up on GPS!!! The aura of love and kindness you give off is so bright, your neighbors must live in a perpetual era of light! Please message me here when the coronation of the Worlds Greatest Virtue Signaller is scheduled! I’m swooning in the light of your virtual goodness!
Comment by Glenn Wheeler on January 9, 2026 at 11:50 pm
Coach,
Please explain how your eisegesis of the passage you believe prohibits going against authority allows you to believe it does not apply to going against the authority in Venezuela.
Comment by Coach on January 9, 2026 at 11:51 pm
Answer me this Mighty Virtue Signaller…
If David, a man after Gods own heart, went to war in the spring of each year, what does that tell you about the presence and/ or occurrence of war? What does Jesus himself say about wars and rumors of war?
Comment by Glenn Wheeler on January 10, 2026 at 12:13 am
OK, Coach, thank you for illustrating something.
This exchange has made it very clear why democracy doesn’t work. It’s because our leaders are elected by people with such limited mental capacity that they have no capability of thinking for themselves. They merely parrot what they have heard and are incapable of any kind of serious thinking.
And so they go vote, and we get people like Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Mike Johnson, Chuck Schumer, Lindsey Graham, Nancy Pelisi, ad nauseum.
With democracy, due to the lack of mental capabilities of those who vote, we are reduced to the lowest common denominator.
Comment by Coach on January 10, 2026 at 12:21 am
Who do you worship? Answer me that?
Comment by Coach on January 10, 2026 at 12:32 am
Do you worship the god of government?
Do you worship the god of intelligencia?
Do you worship the god of TDS?
Who do you worship?
Who do you serve?
Comment by Coach on January 10, 2026 at 12:53 am
I guess you answered that!
Comment by Coach on January 10, 2026 at 10:04 am
Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God.
Comment by Mark on January 12, 2026 at 11:48 am
Glenn Walker and Coach,
You’re both the worst. End of debate.
Comment by David Gingrich on January 13, 2026 at 8:08 am
The world is a much better place because of the arrest of Maduro. History may prove it to be a turning point toward real democracy in Latin America.
Comment by John on January 13, 2026 at 11:54 am
David Gingrich
Ever here the parable of the boy and the Zen Master? A boy in a small village gets a horse for his birthday. The villagers all say, “How wonderful!” The Zen Master replies, “We’ll see.” The boy falls off the horse and breaks his leg. Everyone says, “How terrible!” The Zen Master says, “We’ll see.” Soon after a war breaks out. All the other young men of the village go off to fight and die, except the boy with the broken leg. The villagers say “How fortunate for him!” And the Zen Master says, “We’ll see.”
Comment by Thomas on May 17, 2026 at 7:06 pm
“In fact, because the Maduro regime repressed and impoverished ordinary people, liberation theology would be presumed here to SUPPORT the overthrow of that regime.” Nonsense! Liberation Theology is just Marxist garbage. You know how many of them still support the communist regimen of Cuba? Read more about them, please.