The Nicaraguan Catholic Church will celebrate tomorrow, May 13, the day of the fourth world rosary “Mater Fatima» whose epicenter will be the Metropolitan Cathedral of Managua, where the liturgical acts will be presided over by Cardinal Archbishop Leopoldo Brenes, and whose special request to the Virgin will be “the virtue of hope.”
According to the Mexican priest residing in Spain, Héctor Ramírez, the organizers of the activity have not had – for the time being – any problem with the authorities of the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo to organize the activity, although he recognized the complexity of the sociopolitical situation Nicaragua lives. “Nicaragua is a country that is suffering,” laments the priest Héctor Ramírez
«In Nicaragua it is not easy to profess the faith. This country has been in a difficult situation for at least 40 years, so it is a country that is suffering a lot, however it is a very Marian country (…) Nicaragua is a country that is suffering, that needs the presence of the Virgin in that country and Nicaraguans have been faithful (to their faith),” Ramírez told journalist José Calderero of the Catholic weekly Alfa y Omega of the Archbishopric of Madrid.
Related news: Monsignor Álvarez: “We don’t need anyone to point out our sins”
The organizing priest, who is a fervent devotee of the Virgin Mary, stated that the activity will consist of the recitation of the rosary, the holy mass and adoration with the Blessed Sacrament in which they will ask for peace in the world and where they will keep in mind the war Russian-Ukrainian living in Eastern Europe.
“Ukraine and Russia are going to be mentioned, it is planned to be mentioned (in the prayer intentions) because they can be very delicate foci of a possible outbreak of war,” the organizer stressed.
It should be noted that the Managua regime has been very close to President Vladimir Putin and the Nicaraguan government has supported the invasion of Russian troops in various international forums.
The priest reiterated that so far they had not had any problems organizing the event with the Ortega dictatorship.
Ramírez attributed the draw of obstacles to the moral strength of Archbishop Leopoldo Brenes.
«To this day we have not had any problems, Blessed be God! But perhaps –I could say it-, because of that blessing that Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes is a great endorsement of this world rosary. Therefore, that also gives it a lot of strength and to this day we have not had any problem – that I know of – so delicate, ”explained the priest to the Spanish Catholic press.
Since July 2018, institutional relations between the Managua regime and the Nicaraguan Church have been practically broken after Daniel Ortega accused the Nicaraguan bishops of being behind the alleged “coup d’état,” as he calls the massive demonstrations. occurred in that year that resulted in at least 355 fatalities as a result of government repression, according to the latest report by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
The report on religious freedom 2021 prepared by the papal foundation Aid to the Church in Need (AIN) assures that the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo have put religious freedom in a “compromised” situation due to the repression that the country is experiencing. “The situation of this fundamental right (of religion and worship) has visibly deteriorated in Nicaragua and the future prospects are bleak,” concluded the AIN country report.
International media will broadcast
According to the priest Héctor Ramírez, various international Catholic media such as the American television station EWTN will broadcast live all the acts related to the fourth day of the Rosary “Mother Fatima», this thanks to the special management carried out by Archbishop Brenes.
The organizers highlighted that the day was inspired by the message of the Virgin of Cuapa, which is an alleged apparition of the Virgin Mary that occurred to the Chontaleño peasant Bernardo Martínez in 1980.
The alleged apparitions of the Virgin of Cuapa occurred at the beginning of the government of the Sandinista revolution and were not without controversy due to the way in which the then bishops Miguel Obando y Bravo together with his then auxiliary Bosco Vivas Robelo handled the situation, transferring the message from a pastoral to a political level, in the midst of the growing tensions between the Church and the State at that time.
«The case of Cuapa shows how there has been at times in the country hypersensitivities regarding religious issues. The message that the Virgin would have given to the peasant Bernardo is, in essence, nothing more than a traditional exhortation to pray (the rosary) and to do so reflexively, based on the gospel. But the controversial sensationalism with which “La Prensa” propagandized the events led the other two newspapers – also the stations – to see in the events of Cuapa a counterrevolutionary expression dressed in popular religiosity.
For a time, the Cuapa case, exorbitant in one way or another, was the subject of discussion at all levels. Today, after the first controversy, the cult of the Virgin of Cuapa continues to develop, although more serenely and without achieving roots. Some bishops, priests and nuns have promoted it, especially in Managua and Juigalpa, a prelature where the town of Cuapa is located. Prints and prayer books have been published and Bishop Vega, prelate of Juigalpa, granted the title of sanctuary to the church of Cuapa. (December 8, 1982)”, indicates a chronicle of the Jesuit magazine Sending dated December 1983.
