Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes said this Sunday, September 4, that Pope Francis is “super informed” about the situation in Nicaragua, where the government of Daniel Ortega keeps Monsignor Rolando Álvarez and seven priests under arrest.
“The pope is super informed. The Secretary of State (of the Vatican) is well informed, so I personally laugh” when they say no, said Brenes, archbishop of the Archdiocese of Managua, in an interview with Efe after the Eucharist at the Metropolitan Cathedral.
The high hierarch described as “very sad” that Pope Francis is criticized because supposedly “he does not know anything, that he is uninformed” about what is happening in Nicaragua, mainly with the Catholic Church.
“That is the worst lie that sometimes some media outlets, I don’t know with (what) interests, and some personalities, with what interests, are doing that,” he reproached.
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Brenes assured that Pope Francis is praying for the Nicaraguan Catholic Church, as are the bishops who make up the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council (Celam).
There are no negotiations with the government
He explained that “there are no negotiations” with the Ortega government on the situation of religious prisoners and that the Catholic Church continues to pray.
“We know that the darkest cave, the darkest tunnel, at the end, always has a ray of light and that is our hope,” he said.
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“We are men of dialogue, the Church is not one of confrontation, but the Church is one of dialogue. The Holy Father has pointed it out, the Episcopal Conference has pointed it out many times that all confrontational situations lead to nothing, because violence begets violence and an action brings a reaction”, he added.
He argued that pastors are strengthened by prayer and that they are certain of having the support of their people, who “continue to pray both nationally and internationally.”
Monsignor Rolando Álvarez is fine
Regarding the bishop of the diocese of Matagalpa (north), Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, a critic of the Ortega government and who this Sunday is serving 17 days under house arrest in Managua, without charges having been filed so far, Brenes affirmed that, despite Under these conditions, they are fine.
“I have been talking with him (…) He told me that he is very well about his health. I found him in better spirits. I had a good time talking with him. And he asks us to continue praying for him and hopefully, the Holy Spirit will enlighten us so that we can soon solve this conflict, “she said.
Brenes explained that Monsignor Álvarez “is being well cared for. His family goes twice a day to visit him. In the morning and in the afternoon”, and that “his cousin, who was the one who took care of his house, cleaned and cooked for him the days she was in Managua, she continues to cook for him”, he indicated.
Priests continue in “El Chipote”
In the case of the other seven priests who are in prison, Cardinal Brenes reported that they have been visited by the president of the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua and bishop of the diocese of Jinotega (north), Carlos Enrique Herrera, and that they have been “Negotiations so that the families could be with them.”
“Last Wednesday the relatives went to be with them for a period of two to three hours,” he said.
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Asked about the possibility that the priests be transferred from the El Chipote police prison, officially known as the Directorate of Judicial Assistance, where they are being held, to their homes, Brenes said that “at this time it has not” been possible, but ” all the steps are being taken” and they are going “little by little”.
Church-State Relations
The arrest of Bishop Álvarez and the seven priests is the most recent chapter of a particularly convulsive last year for the Catholic Church of Nicaragua with the Government of Ortega, who has branded the leaders as “coup plotters” and “terrorists.”
This year, the Sandinista government expelled from the country the apostolic nuncio Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag and 18 nuns from the Missionaries of Charity order, founded by Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
It has also imprisoned seven priests, shut down nine Catholic radio stations and pulled three Catholic channels from subscription television programming.
The Police have also entered by force and raided a parish, prevented parishioners from receiving the Eucharist inside the temple and besieged other priests in their churches, among others.
Related news: Diocesan Clergy of Estelí to the Ortega-Murillos: “We do not kidnap people or fabricate crimes to imprison”
Relations between the Sandinistas and the Nicaraguan Catholic Church have been marked by friction and mistrust in the last 43 years.
The Catholic community represents 58.5% of the 6.6 million inhabitants of Nicaragua, according to the latest national census.
