The Auxiliary Bishop of Managua, Monsignor Silvio Jose Baezstated in his homily this Sunday, November 13, that at this time when Christians are persecuted and taken to jail “for announcing the truth, Jesus does not want a silent Church, but a Church full of wisdom, that knows how to say the word of truth meekly but clearly and courageously.”
Carmelite bishop, exiled since 2019 due to death threats of fanatics of the government party in Nicaragua, noted that “Christians have not only been persecuted in the primitive church, but today they are also persecuted and taken to jail for their cause, for announcing the truth of the Gospel and denouncing sin and the injustice”.
He valued that “when we take seriously the announcement of the word of God, when we call things by their name and proclaim the demands of God’s mercy and justice, sooner or later we become uncomfortable and run the risk of being rejected. or persecuted by powerful people.”
“Jesus wants us to be aware of the risk of persecution so that when it happens, we do not allow ourselves to be conditioned by worldly interests or by fear. When the Church is persecuted, neither should one be discouraged, nor be carried away by resignation”, the bishop pointed out.
Monsignor Báez also urged us to learn to live the faith and to be prophets of Jesus in the midst of insecurity, conflict and false accusations, “trusting in the presence of the Lord who sustains us and without letting ourselves be paralyzed by fear.”
Monsignor Báez: The Church must have a serene, clear and courageous word
“The great challenge of the Church at the time of persecution is to be inspired by Jesus, who assures us that he will give us words full of wisdom and good sense, but so clear and forceful that the adversaries will not be able to against them. The word of the Church inspired by Jesus is a serene, clear and courageous word, which will always be stronger than the hate speeches, the violent threats and the criminal actions of her opponents, ”said the Catholic hierarch.
Finally, he urged not to be afraid, since —he assessed— “fear is bad, it locks us in on ourselves, prevents us from being coherent, causes us to distort reality and can lead us to sell our conscience and, in the worst case, we can end up denying Jesus and denying the Church”.
Church continues to be persecuted, Cardinal Brenes spoke of dialogue
Two weeks ago, the Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes in Rome he alluded to a supposed dialogue with the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. “We must continue to dialogue, we must always continue with the dialogue. The dialogue begins but we don’t know when it ends, we have to keep going, always promote it. The pope always gives us this indication: the dialogue cannot end,” he said. Cardinal Brenes in a context in which the regime maintains a repressive escalation against the Catholic Church, imprisoning a bishop, eight priests and two seminarians.
“We must always continue the dialogue. The dialogue begins but we don’t know when it ends, we have to keep going, always promote it. The pope always gives us this indication: the dialogue cannot end”, Cardinal Brenes added after participating in the presentation of a document from the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council (CELAM).
Brenes was also received by Pope Francis in a private audience. The Nicaraguan Catholic hierarch explained that the Supreme Pontiff “knows the situation well and is always informed” and that he told him to “go ahead with the preaching and with the accompaniment of our people, especially to be with our humble and sensitive people and close to the priests.
