Vatican confirms it tried to mediate with Maduro to avoid military intervention in Venezuela

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State | Credit: Vatican Media

Jan 19, 2026 / 13:02 pm (CNA).

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin confirmed Saturday that the Holy See attempted to mediate to avert U.S. military intervention in Venezuela, which culminated Jan. 3 with the capture of Nicolás Maduro.

“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,” Parolin told reporters on the afternoon of Saturday, Jan. 17, outside Rome’s Domus Mariae church.

Parolin had just celebrated Mass there for the public veneration — for the first time — of relics of St. Pier Giorgio Frassati.

In remarks reported by, among others, the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Parolin — who served as apostolic nuncio to Venezuela from 2009 to 2013 — said the Vatican has “always supported a peaceful solution,” adding: “But we, too, find ourselves faced with a fait accompli, a de facto situation.”

He described Venezuela’s current moment as “a situation of great uncertainty.”

“We hope it evolves toward stability, toward an economic recovery — because the economic situation is truly very, very precarious — and also toward the democratization of the country,” the cardinal said.

Parolin declined to provide further details about a Jan. 9 Washington Post report stating that the Holy See had attempted to help facilitate Maduro’s departure from Venezuela by offering asylum in Russia.

After that report was published, the Holy See Press Office confirmed that the conversation took place during the Christmas period, while adding that it considered it “disappointing that parts of a confidential conversation are published without accurately reflecting its content.”

Pope Leo XIV has referred to the Venezuelan crisis on several occasions, most recently Jan. 9 in his address to diplomats accredited to the Holy See, when he called for respect for the will of the Venezuelan people and for peaceful solutions free of “partisan interests.”

The pope also received Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado on Monday, Jan. 12 — three days before her meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, whom ACI Prensa identified as a 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Speaking afterward at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., Machado said the Holy Father “knows very well what is happening in Venezuela,” adding that he is “fully aware of what the Catholic Church is experiencing, due to the persecution and pressure on our bishops and priests.” She also said the pope is “not only concerned, but is helping and actively supporting” efforts toward a peaceful transition.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.