The priestly ordination of the exiled deacon and ex-political prisoner Raúl Vega will no longer take place on May 12 as planned, since it was rescheduled for another date that has not been disclosed, according to what the auxiliary bishop of Managua reported this Monday, also in exile, Monsignor Silvio Báez.
Without giving many details, Bishop Báez posted a message through his personal Twitter account stating that “in a prudent act of pastoral concern, my brother Monsignor William Wack, bishop of the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee, has informed of your decision to postpone the ordination of exiled deacon Raúl Vega to the priesthood.”
Monsignor Báez clarifies that “although this news may cause some confusion,” he wholeheartedly supports the decision made by Bishop Wack.
Related news: Deacon Vega will offer his priestly ordination to the people of Nicaragua and their bishop “martyred prophet imprisoned”
The Nicaraguan religious took advantage of the message to thank the Bishop of Tallahassee for “his closeness to me, his welcome to Deacon Raúl and his firm solidarity with the Church of Nicaragua.”
Deacon Vega is one of the 222 political prisoners who were released by the Ortega dictatorship on February 9 to be exiled to the US and stripped of their nationality.
Since then he has been welcomed by the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee, whose bishop has given the go-ahead for the priestly ordination, which has been rescheduled.
The ordaining priest had already anticipated that his ordination will be dedicated to his parents, the people of Nicaragua and its bishop, Monsignor Rolado Álvarez, whom he considers a martyr for the church, imprisoned by the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship.