Chávez-linked church decried

A church modeled in part after one in Miami but with a ''revolutionary'' spirit that praises Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is now at the center of a religious and social controversy in Venezuela. Although it has adopted many of the symbols and rites of Roman Catholicism, the new Reform Catholic Venezuelan Church departs from traditional belief in some key ways. For example, reformists consider that ''homosexuality and bisexuality are not sins in and of themselves.'' Divorce is allowed and priests do not take vows of chastity. The church, which was publicly announced last week, also lines itself up squarely behind Chávez's ''Bolivarian Revolution'' and its socialist agenda. Venezuelan Catholic leaders, who reacted sharply to the new church, claim Chávez is bankrolling it with petroleum proceeds. But whether that's true or not, Reform Catholic leaders line up squarely behind the Venezuelan president. ''We completely support the socialist project led by Chávez,'' said Enrique Albornoz, one of the new church's first bishops -- a group that is to be ordained on Sunday.