SÃO PAULO, Brazil – This year’s Easter celebrations drew many more Venezuelans than in previous years, according to bishops from different parts of the country.

According to some prelates, uncertainty about the political future of the South American nation – which was attacked by United States forces on Jan. 3 and where then-President Nicolás Maduro was seized and taken to New York, where he is now undergoing trial – is one of the main reasons for greater participation in 2026.

According to Unión Radio, Archbishop Raúl Biord of Caracas told the press that the 2026 Holy Week was “very intense, very beautiful, with great participation from the people in Caracas.”

“Across all communities and parishes, there has been growing participation in all the celebrations compared to previous years. Therefore, I believe it is a very positive outcome,” Biord said.

The archbishop added that “Venezuela is experiencing these times with hope, but also with a certain degree of uncertainty,” alluding to the political turmoil in the South American nation following the U.S. intervention.

“This leads us to draw closer to the firmest hope, which is the Lord, which is God. I believe all of this has led the Venezuelan people to turn toward God with greater participation,” Biord said.

Other bishops confirmed that 2026 was atypical not only in Caracas, with large crowds attending Easter celebrations.

“The participation of the faithful in all regions was massive, something that can even be seen on social media,” Archbishop Jesús González de Zárate of Valencia told Crux Now.

González, who is the president of the Episcopal Conference of Venezuela, said that faith is always a “reference point in daily life.”

“It has always been a source of solace and strength for the Venezuelan people amid the hardships we have faced over the past few years,” he added.

In Valencia, a city in the northern part of the country, this year’s Easter processions and Masses drew more participants than in 2025, González said.

In Puerto Cabello, 35 miles north of Valencia on the Caribbean coast, fewer people visited the local beaches during Easter this year, Bishop José António da Conceição Ferreira told Crux Now.

“This may be a sign that more residents decided to celebrate Holy Week at home with their families,” Ferreira said.

The Venezuelan bishops will conduct an evaluation of the Easter celebrations at the end of April, and concrete attendance data will be compiled, said Ferreira, the bishops’ conference’s secretary general.

In Barquisimeto, a major city 115 miles east of Valencia, Archbishop Polito Rodríguez saw more churchgoers at Easter celebrations this year than in previous years.

“I spoke about it with a few priests, and all of them told me the same thing – more people showed up in 2026,” he told Crux Now.

Rodríguez said the atmosphere during Holy Week was very positive, despite most people still waiting for dignified salaries.

Father Oswaldo Méndez, vicar of the Archdiocese of Barquisimeto, described the large turnout at the celebrations as an “awakening,” especially among young people.

“We saw groups of up to 50 or 60 young people taking part in missions to bring the Word of God to their neighbors. People have been longing for God in the context of our country and also around the world, with so many crises and wars,” Méndez told Crux Now.

But he does not think it is solely about the critical situation in Venezuela. In July 2025, he said, Archbishop Rodríguez launched a new pastoral plan for Barquisimeto.

“That plan strongly involved young people, along with other groups. It is now yielding results,” Méndez said.

Naudy Atacho, a 44-year-old lay Catholic who lives in Barquisimeto, is himself an example of how priests and laypeople have been working to draw more people to the Church.

Involved in different ministries in his parish, he said that the number of volunteers across the diocese has grown with Rodríguez’s plan, helping attract new churchgoers.

“The number of volunteers is incredible in my parish. Seeing how the church community carried out each of the liturgical celebrations, the preparation for every event – such as the Stations of the Cross procession with the Nazarene – and how all the volunteers and pastoral groups took part, it was clear that everything was done through true teamwork,” Atacho told Crux Now.

He described Easter 2026 as “atypical” and “totally different from previous years.”

“I saw youth groups arriving in five buses, visiting churches in order to pray and hold vigils late into the night,” Atacho said.

In 2026, a friend of Atacho’s, Vladimir Callejas, took part in Easter celebrations for the first time in several years. However, his motivation was not connected to the political crisis.

“I was going through personal problems. An acquaintance of mine saw my expression one day and sensed that I was in trouble. That person invited me to a retreat last year, and I accepted,” Callejas told Crux Now.

The retreat helped Callejas feel better about himself and closer to God. He began attending church again and receiving the sacraments. This year, he took part in Easter celebrations for the first time in years.

“I had no idea how powerful it was to attend a Mass celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. I had never taken part in the Easter Triduum,” Callejas said.

He said many Catholics likely overlook key aspects of the faith and do not fully grasp the importance of the sacraments and holy days.

“I think there is now a stronger pastoral effort, and priests are more open in dialoguing with us and explaining these concepts,” he said.

Callejas said he believes the political situation in Venezuela may have led many people to return to the Church. But for him, it was not political uncertainty, but personal uncertainty that brought him back to Catholicism.