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,
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
. He was ordained a priest on 17 December 1955.
On 23 October 1989,
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005.
In his you ...
named him Apostolic Vicar of
Puerto Ayacucho and titular bishop of
Utimmira. 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 Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, Bolivarian Revolution, revolutionary, and Officer (armed forces), military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until De ...
. 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, Velasco attended the swearing in of Chávez' replacement, signed the
Carmona Decree 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][
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 from cancer in Venezuela