Antonio Ignacio Velasco García, S.D.B. (17 January 1929 – 6 July 2003) was a Venezuelan prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the Archbishop of Caracas from 27 May 1995 until his death.

Biography

Velasco was born on 17 January 1929 in

Acarigua Acarigua (), founded as San Miguel de Acarigua, is a city in northwestern Venezuela, in the northern part of the state of Portuguesa. Formerly the state capital, it is a major commercial center for the northern Llanos region of South America. ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. He was ordained a priest on 17 December 1955. On 23 October 1989,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

named him Apostolic Vicar of

Puerto Ayacucho Puerto Ayacucho () is the capital and largest city of Amazonas State in Venezuela. Puerto Ayacucho is located across the Orinoco River from the Colombian village of Casuarito. The city was founded to facilitate the transport of goods past the ...

and titular bishop of

Utimmira Utimmira was an ancient Roman town of the Roman province of Africa Proconsularis. The town was somewhere near Carthage in today's Tunisia, but the exact location has been lost to history. Utimmira was the seat of an ancient episcopal see, suffra ...

. He received his episcopal consecration on 27 January 1990. John Paul named him Archbishop of Caracas on 27 May 1994 and Velasco was installed there on 14 July. He made Velasco a cardinal on 21 February 2001 and assigned him as Cardinal-Priest to the titular church of Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello. Velasco was known for his criticisms of

Venezuelan President The president of Venezuela ( es, Presidente de Venezuela), officially known as the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, Presidente de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is the head of state and head of government in Ven ...

Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician who was president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013, except for a brief period in 2002. Chávez was also leader of the Fifth Republ ...

. In 2001 he appealed to the government to take attacks on Catholic churches more seriously. After Chávez repeatedly attacked the Church, Velasco said: "Every day I turn another cheek. I have no cheeks left because every day there is a new insult." During the

2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt A failed coup d'état on 11 April 2002 saw the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, ousted from office for 47 hours before being restored to power. Chávez was aided in his return to power by popular support and mobilization against the coup b ...

, Velasco attended the swearing in of Chávez' replacement, signed the

Carmona Decree The Act Constituting the Government of Democratic Transition and National Unity ( es, Acta de Constitución del Gobierno de Transición Democrática y Unidad Nacional) – known colloquially as the "Carmona Decree" or ''El Carmonazo'' — was a doc ...

that disestablished the Chávez regime, and visited Chávez in exile in Orchila. Velasco later disassociated himself from the coup and his role remains unclear, combining an attempt to get Chávez to resign, an effort to protect Chávez' life, and doubts about the leadership of the short-lived coup. His personal antagonistic relationship with Chávez divided the conservative Church hierarchy from clergy who supported the radical social programs of the Chávez government. Velasco died on 6 July 2003 after a long illness and treatment in Spain for cancer. After Velasco's death, Chávez drew fire for his controversial statement that the Cardinal was "burning in hell".

References

External links

Catholic Hierarchy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Velasco Garcia, Antonio Ignacio Venezuelan cardinals 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Venezuela 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Venezuela People from Acarigua 1929 births 2003 deaths Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II Roman Catholic archbishops of Caracas Salesian cardinals Venezuelan Roman Catholic archbishops Deaths in Venezuela