Venezuela's bishops have asked that upcoming elections be run by a newly appointed and independent National Electoral Council and Supreme Court. In their message, the church representatives tied that demand to a broader account of national decline. They warned that the education system is coming apart, with schools short of staff and materials. The public hospital network, they said, cannot guarantee basic care because medical supplies have run thin. They also flagged the crisis in the electricity service, which keeps disrupting life across the country. The statement reads as both a political demand and a social diagnosis, unusually direct for the hierarchy. It adds the weight of the church to the chorus of voices pressing for institutional change before any new vote. Whether the government responds, given its grip on appointments to both bodies, remains the open question.