CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) -- Venezuela's Roman Catholic Church warned
                   on Tuesday of the risk of fraud in next month's general elections, arguing that
                   the country's top electoral authority was dominated by government supporters.

                   The Church warning lent credibility to a series of accusations by opposition
                   leaders that the National Electoral Council was biased in favor of President Hugo
                   Chavez's bid for reelection in the May 28 vote.

                   A left-leaning nationalist with a strong following among Venezuela's poor
                   majority, Chavez is facing a serious challenge for the presidency from former
                   close ally Francisco Arias who joined him in leading a failed coup in 1992.

                   Monsignor Baltazar Porras, head of the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference,
                   pointed out that the council's five directors were appointed in December by a
                   Constituent Assembly packed with Chavez supporters.

                   "The CNE, whether we like it or not, is unbalanced because it was hand-picked
                   and all its members represent the same current and that calls the process into
                   question," Porras told the Globovision network.

                   The Roman Catholic Church is one of the most respected institutions in the
                   South American country of 24 million people where more than 95 percent of the
                   population claim to be practicing Catholics. Church leaders said Monday they
                   would only accept a CNE invitation to take part in auditing the vote if political
                   groups opposed to Chavez's government are also allowed to participate.

                   Arias, a former state governor who accuses Chavez of running an authoritarian
                   government that has scared off investors and turned a blind eye to corruption,
                   has called for international observers to be vigilant to government fraud during
                   the elections.

                   Government officials played down the Church's criticisms of the CNE and
                   vowed to press ahead with Chavez's program of radical political change.

                   "I don't think the Church is calling to join the chorus of voices that have been
                   questioning the policies of change for some time," said Luis Miquilena, Chavez's
                   top political aide and president of the 21-member National Legislative
                   Commission currently functioning as Venezuela's Congress.

                   The May 28 vote for president, legislators, state governors and mayors has been
                   called to comply with a new constitution approved at a national referendum in
                   December.