How the Vatican tried — and failed — to secure exile for Maduro
The Vatican may now be led by its first American pope, but that has not placed it neatly in line with Washington’s actions in Venezuela. On the contrary, the Holy See quietly worked to prevent the violent endgame that culminated in the US capture of Nicolás Maduro earlier this month.
That effort came into focus after reports emerged that Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state and its most senior diplomat, attempted to mediate rising US-Venezuelan tensions — and even sought to broker a safe exit for Maduro.
According to a Washington Post report, Parolin had begun probing US intentions as early as Christmas Eve, asking the American ambassador to the Holy See whether Washington was targeting drug traffickers or pursuing outright regime change.
What Parolin was ultimately pushing for, the report said, was time.
He urged US officials to exercise patience and allow Maduro to step aside peacefully, potentially accepting asylum in Russia. Moscow, Parolin suggested, was prepared to guarantee the Venezuelan leader’s security if an exit could be arranged.
Those efforts failed. Just over a week later, US Special Operations forces swooped into Maduro’s residence in Caracas and captured him and his wife — an operation that left about 75 people dead.
This week, Parolin and the Holy See Press Office confirmed the outlines of the Post report.
Without elaborating on his conversations with US officials or the source of Russia’s alleged offer, Parolin said Venezuela had been plunged into a “situation of great uncertainty.”
“We had tried precisely — as, among other things, has appeared in some newspapers — to find a solution that would avoid any bloodshed, trying perhaps to reach an agreement even with Maduro and with other figures in the regime, but this was not possible,” he said.
Pope ‘deeply concerned’
Pope Leo XIV himself has voiced unease.
A day after the January 3 operation, Pope Leo XIV used his Angelus address to express “deep concern” for Venezuela, stressing respect for human rights and national sovereignty.
“The good of the beloved Venezuelan people must prevail over every other consideration,” he said, calling for paths of “justice and peace."
His remarks took on added weight after Donald Trump suggested that US control over Venezuela — and its vast oil reserves — could last “years.”
Not the first time
The Vatican’s intervention was not unprecedented.
Formally represented in global affairs by the Holy See, the Catholic Church occupies an unusual diplomatic space: the world’s smallest state, with no army and fewer than 1,000 residents, yet led by a pontiff with moral authority over some 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide.
For centuries, popes have acted as mediators and moral brokers, relying on soft power.
From Cold War diplomacy to conflict mediation in Latin America, the Vatican has repeatedly sought to insert restraint where power politics threaten bloodshed.
Its failed bid to secure an exile for Maduro proves just that.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
