Venezuela's Pro-Chavez Priests Also More Accepting Of Gays and Divorce

A fledgling church that openly backs President Hugo Chavez is raising the ire of Venezuela's Roman Catholic hierarchy, preaching the Gospel alongside socialism. Founders of the newly created Reformist Catholic Church of Venezuela, based in the western city of Ciudad Ojeda, say that supporting Chavez's socialist ideals goes hand-in-hand with Christian aims of helping the poor. ''We don't side with any political banner, but we cannot fail to recognize and support the socialist achievements of this government,'' Enrique Albornoz, a former Lutheran minister who helped start the church, said in a telephone interview on Monday. ''We back the social programs of this revolutionary government.'' A group of dissident Catholic priests, Lutherans, and Anglicans quietly formed the church several years ago, but its first three bishops were sworn in last weekend, Albornoz said.