The leader of Venezuela’s opposition party and governor of the state of Miranda, Henrique Capriles, had a private audience with Pope Francis, in which he pleaded for the Vatican’s intervention in the political crisis in Venezuela. Capriles met with the Latin American pontiff for 20 minutes, following Pope Francis’s general address in St. Peter’s Square on November 6.

Henrique Capriles is the presidential candidate who challenged incumbent President Nicolas Maduro in the April 2013 elections that followed Hugo Chávez’s death.

Capriles intends to drastically change Venezuela’s foreign policy. High on his agenda is ditching Iran as an ally and repealing Venezuela’s arms deals with Russia. He plans to “revise every deal” relating to oil exploitation that his country has signed especially with Russia and China. Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world. Domestically, Capriles seeks to water down Chávez’s socialistic policies.

In the area of diplomacy with the Vatican—a delicate area that has historically been an intersection of religion and politics—Henrique Capriles hopes to mend relations with the Catholic Church that Chávez despised and tarnished. He is an avowed, staunch Catholic, educated at the Catholic University in Caracas. While campaigning for the April presidential elections, he stated that the first thing he would do after winning is to pay homage to the Virgin Mary.

Capriles narrowly lost those elections to Chávez clone Nicolas Maduro, but he does not view the vote as legitimate. Subsequent to the elections, Venezuela plunged into crisis. Political contention is rife between the government and the opposition. An economic crisis in Venezuela that has spawned a 50 percent annual inflation rate, food shortages, violent crime and street protests, is severely threatening stability. In fact, President Maduro has recently requested special power to rule by decree in an effort to mitigate Venezuela’s problems.

It is against this backdrop that Henrique Capriles is looking to the Vatican. The Catholic Church’s history of mediation in political affairs and influencing national outcomes must give Capriles reason for confidence. Following his private meeting with the pontiff and his request for papal intervention, Capriles told reporters, “[Pope Francis] said the church hears this request, and he said he believes that through dialogue, and through Venezuelan Bishops’ conference, and through [Venezuela’s] cardinal, he would look into … this request to see how it can materialize.”

Adding to his confidence is the fact that Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin served as apostolic nuncio (ambassador) to Venezuela from 2009 to 2013. “I’m sure that Msgr. Parolin can help greatly, using his new position here at the Vatican,” said Capriles, “to promote dialogue in our country.” During his tenure as the Vatican’s top diplomat to Venezuela, Parolin experienced all the church-state tension that came with Chávez’s socialist revolution.

Chávez’s successor, Nicolas Maduro, is not nearly as antagonistic to the Vatican as was his predecessor. Maduro paid Pope Francis a visit back in July. This positions the Vatican perfectly for a mediation role in Venezuela, and progress is already underway.

Watch for Pope Francis’s strengthening influence in his homeland, Latin America. Expect the Vatican’s clout in political and economic affairs in Venezuela to increase. Bible prophecy discusses a soon-coming, Catholic Church-led European empire whose tentacles will reach the region with the greatest number of Catholics—Latin America. History—especially that of the Holy Roman Empire during the 16th century under Charles v—and prophecy—particularly Revelation 17—indicates that the Vatican will provide the religio-political cement that will bind the nations comprising this empire together with their Latin American outposts. Prophecy also indicates that this imperial union will eventually dominate global trade to an extent that will be detrimental to Anglo-American nations.

Using the Bible as its guide, the Trumpet’s predecessor, the Plain Truth under the leadership of Herbert W. Armstrong, boldly predicted: “[T]he United States is going to be left out in the cold as two gigantic trade blocs, Europe and Latin America, mesh together and begin calling the shots in world commerce.”

For more understanding on how the Plain Truth, and now the Trumpet, can make such Bible-based predictions, read our articles “Papal Politicking” and “Restoring Europe’s Latin Empire.” Additionally, request our free booklet about Mr. Armstrong’s work titled He Was Right.