The French Catholic press revealed that the Holy See planned to send representatives of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America to dialogue with the Daniel Ortega dictatorship, but that this was canceled due to the Nicaraguan president’s attacks against the Pope and the Church.
“The Vatican, which planned to send members of the Latin American Commission to Nicaragua, as well as its president, Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, has suspended this project. The humiliation of being denied entry to the Managua airport is not an option, according to a prudent assessment in Rome,” says a dispatch written by journalist Loup Besmond, Rome correspondent for the French Catholic newspaper La Croix.
The report, which points to sources within the Holy See, assures that the risque speech used by Ortega against the Pope and the Church has pushed diplomatic relations between Managua and the Apostolic Palace to a “situation of rupture.” ».
Related news: Daniel Ortega accuses the Catholic Church of being “a perfect dictatorship”
“It is true that an ecclesiastical advisor continues to reside in the Nunciature, but he no longer has ‘any contact’ with the Nicaraguan government, according to our information. Only the Cardinal and Archbishop of Managua, Leopoldo Brenes, maintains a “microscopic relationship” with the (Ortega) government, according to Rome,” the Vatican source points out in the report.
In the same journalistic piece, the source inside Vatican City states that Pope Francis is following “closely” the situation of religious persecution undertaken by the dictatorship against the Church but that he will not make any further statements because a His word can have disastrous consequences for the Nicaraguan Church.
“A careless word, a misunderstood word can have dramatic consequences within the country,” emphasizes the source, who also assures that the Nicaraguan Catholic hierarchy has been asked to reduce its public statements.
This would explain the supposed silence that part of the most radical political opposition and some journalists opposed to the regime criticize the bishops of Nicaragua.
“The situation is complicated, delicate (…) But we want to leave the door open for dialogue,” explained a high-level source from the Holy See to La Croix.
Concern for priests locked up in “El Chipote”»
A diplomatic source from the Holy See consulted by the newspaper La Croix expressed concern about the state of the priests and seminarians detained in the Judicial Assistance Directorate of Managua, known as “El Chipote.”
Related news: Priests in “El Chipote” are isolated and under interrogation
“White torture is practiced there. White light on all day, white walls, total isolation, no visitors,” the source said. The report indicates that the situation of the bishop of Matagalpa, Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, under house arrest is “barely better.”
According to La Croix, the Vatican is now working so that the relatives of the detained priests can -at least- see their relatives. This would be a “very, very small first step,” says the Holy See source.
