Vatican City, Aug 1, 2017 / 16:02 pm
After violence followed a controversial vote in Venezuela this weekend, the Vatican Secretary of State has encouraged the country's citizens to find a "peaceful and democratic" way out of the crisis.
The violence comes on the heels of a vote for an assembly charged by the country's socialist president, Nicolas Maduro, with writing a new constitution.
According to ANSA news agency, Cardinal Pietro Parolin said that he and Pope Francis are "very committed" to seeking a peaceful solution to the crisis in Venezuela. The Vatican has been "seeking to help all, indiscriminately, and calling each person to fulfill their own responsibility."
"The criteria should be only the good of the people," he said. "The dead are too many and I do not think there are other criteria to follow that is not in the common good of the people," he insisted.