The former ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS) Arturo McFields recalled the first visit of Pope John Paul II to Nicaragua, on March 4, 1983, during the first period of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). This Saturday, March 4, marks the 40th anniversary of the arrival of the highest authority of the Catholic Church. Pope John Paul, Karol Józef Wojtyła, was canonized by the Holy Father Francis on April 27, 2014.
The arrival in Nicaragua is remembered because the Sandinista mobs crowded into Plaza 19 de Julio, in front of the Central American University (UCA) and interrupted the prelate’s homily, shouting the phrase: “We want peace! We want peace!”.
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In response to the boycott attempt by Sandinista fanatics, Pope Juan Pablo Segundo responded: “The first that wants peace is the Church!”
After that historic event, McFields pointed out through his Twitter account that “40 years ago a brave pope arrived in Nicaragua and told Daniel Ortega a couple of uncomfortable truths to his face. “The first that wants peace is the church”».
Referring to the intensification of attacks against the Catholic Church in these last almost five years of repression, the former diplomat said that “Ortega’s hatred of Christianity has no limits and the infernal persecution continues.”
“The Pope came to visit a town that was destroyed”
For his part, a priest in exile told Article 66 on condition of anonymity that this date marked the history of Nicaragua “because it was in a context of much suffering, pain and death for the Nicaraguan people. The Pope came to visit a town that was destroyed at that time from a political point of view.
“The pope’s words came to define that the first one who wants peace is the Church, but the mobs – Sandinistas – wanted to manipulate the visit of a great man like Pope Juan Pablo Segundo,” said the religious.
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He added that 40 years after the visit of the Supreme Pontiff and in the current context in which Nicaragua lives “the words of His Holiness are remembered that the first one who wants peace is the Church.”
“At this time we also remember the words that Pope Francis said in the Vatican in solidarity with the people of Nicaragua and with Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, whom he said he loved very much,” he stressed.
He affirmed that once again Nicaragua is experiencing “a tragedy of pain, suffering, persecution, harassment. Nicaragua has been blessed for this reason, the devil has attacked us strongly and has wanted to destroy the Church in the country, but he will not be able to, because Nicaraguans have three great loves, which is love for the Eucharist, love for Mary, most holy mother. of the Lord and love for the Church”.
Years have passed since the first visit of the religious canonized, however his visit is remembered as the dark night for Catholicism, which since 2018 has experienced the worst attacks in its history in Nicaragua.
In 2022, the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo attacked religious temples, preventing freedom of worship, then imprisoned more than 10 priests, three of whom are still in prison, including Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, Bishop of the Diocese. from Matagalpa, sentenced to 26 years in prison for the alleged crime of conspiring against the homeland, he was also stripped of his nationality.
