Venezuela ends 'dictatorship' row

President Chavez and the Church have clashed before

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has met Roman Catholic leaders to solve a row sparked when a cardinal said the country was becoming a dictatorship.

The two sides agreed to tone down their rhetoric after the meeting on Wednesday at the presidential palace.

Vice-President Jose Vicente Rangel said both sides would "adopt a tone more apt for democratic dialogue".

Mr Chavez had called the Church's behaviour "undoubtedly a provocation" and demanded an apology.

The dispute began when Cardinal Rosalio Castillo Lara, the most senior Catholic clergyman in Venezuela, told thousands of worshippers at a pilgrimage in honour of the Virgin Mary that the country had "lost its democratic course and presents the semblance of a dictatorship".

'Shameful'

Mr Chavez hit back, saying this was "shameful for the Catholic Church" and urging it to stay out of politics.

In the past, Mr Chavez and several Venezuelan church representatives have clashed over the way the government is carrying out social and economic reform in the country.

The head of the Venezuelan Bishops Conference, Monsignor Ubaldo Santanam, welcomed the meeting with the president.

"It is the start of a dialogue to better the relations between the church and the government," he said.