Mgr Silvio Baez. Auxiliary Bishop of Managua, reported that next Sunday, April 7, he will officiate Mass at Nuestra Señora del Lago Parish, in Chicago, United States.
“I have been invited by the Catholic community of Chicago to celebrate the Eucharist with the large Nicaraguan community (…) and then I will be there, it will be broadcast live for Nicaragua, at 12:30,” the prelate reported at the end of the Mass on Sunday, April 30, at Santa Agatha Church, in Miami.
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He added that behind the invitation, extended by the parish priest Manuel Dorantes, is also the Nicaraguan priest Erick Diazfrom Matagalpa, “who, persecuted by the dictatorship -Ortega and Murillo-, had to go into exile and is in Chicago,” he said.
He said that prior to the mass —on Saturday, May 6— he will have a meeting with the Chicago cardinal to “talk about Nicaragua.” He also clarified that his mission is to be a pastor. “The only thing I want is to bring hope from the Lord, light, wisdom, strength, that only Christ can give, and humbly, from my ministry, that is what I want to share with the Nicaraguans who will come to this Eucharistic celebration.”
«I want to hug them —the Nicaraguan community— and let me hug them, laugh with them and share tears; bless, ask for prayers, I to them and they to me. I am going on a totally pastoral journey. No Nicaraguan political organization, from exile, is behind my trip, “she stressed.
Recently, through his Twitter account, the bishop once again invited the entire Nicaraguan community of the Midwest of the United States to mass next weekend.
See you in Chicago this coming Sunday, May 7th. We are going to pray as brothers for our long-suffering homeland and to celebrate the Eucharist together in communion”, he invited.
For his part, the father in exile Erick Díaz invited, through his father’s Twitter account, Fr. Manuel Dorantes, to the entire Nicaraguan community of the neighboring states of Chicago to receive Monsignor Báez, “who will visit the Midwest of the United States for the first time. It is a joy to be able to join this welcome and power together with him, as a pastor, and we as a people, to continue praying, walking and asking God to continue accompanying us.
On the other hand, the former politician, Ulises Rivas, member of the Union of Political Prisoners of Nicaragua (UPPN) affirmed that for the exiles in the North American country it is “an honor to be able to listen to the word of God by Monsignor Báez, who is the voice of the vulnerable people.
He emphasized that the mass is not of a political nature, but to “thank and ask God for the freedom of political prisoners” and to ask for the freedom of Nicaragua. “All the exiles (who are) here in Chicago will show up to be able to pray for Nicaragua,” he said.
Since 2018, the people of Nicaragua have been experiencing a political crisis that has left dozens of political prisoners, thousands of exiles and exiles, including Catholic priests, whom the Ortega dictatorship has criminalized for having raised their voices in favor of the victims of the repression.
