The Auxiliary Bishop of Managua, Monsignor Silvio Jose Baezassured this Sunday, May 22, that the The Catholic Church “does not kneel in fear before the powerful” and that “it will not be defeated by the dark forces of evil, nor by the dragon of violence.”
The reflection of Báez, in exile at the request of Pope Francis, it occurs in the week that the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo have intensified police persecution and harassment against religious leadersspecifically against Monsignor Rolando José Álvarez, bishop of the diocese of Matagalpa, apostolic administrator of the diocese of Estelí, and the priest Harving Padilla, pastor of the San Juan Bautista church in Masaya.
In his homily, from the temple of Santa Agatha, in Miami, United States, Báez pointed out that “the Church never responds with hatred to the attacks it receives, it forgives those who persecute it and loves those who hate it.”
“However,” he continued, “let the wicked not be deceived. This meekness of the Church is not weakness, but strength. The Church does not live in fear or bowed down, she does not kneel in fear before the powerful, nor does she stop announcing the Gospel of hope and justice out of fear”.
“Do not give in to provocations”
“Do not be deceived by those who want to silence the voice of the Church. The Church will not be defeated by the dark forces of evil, nor by the dragon of violence,” said the Nicaraguan bishop.
“(The Church) will not yield to the provocations of evil agents. She will not negotiate the truth, she will not stop denouncing injustice, nor will she stop being a humble servant of the people, comforter of the poor and defender of the victims. It is not possible to silence the truth of God: ‘The Word of God is not chained’”, highlighted the religious leader.
This week at least three religious have suffered harassment. Monsignor Álvarez began, from last Thursday night, an indefinite fast and prayer until the end of the police siege he is suffering. This Saturday, the National Police blocked the four streets that converge with the parish of the priest Padilla. On Wednesday, May 18, Father Uriel Vallejos, pastor of the Divina Misericordia church in Sébaco, reported being a victim of police harassment.
“We are not afraid of those who threaten jail, exile or death. They will try to eliminate pastors and prophets who reveal their lies and their wickedness, but they will not be able to against their evangelical testimony and the love that the people have for them,” Báez stressed in his homily.
“Saint Oscar Arnulfo Romero said it one day: ‘If they kill me, I will resurrect in the Salvadoran people.’ The truth of the Gospel lives not only in the words of the pastors, but also in the hearts of the people”, added the auxiliary bishop of Managua.
“Church stronger than slander”
The religious leader in exile warned that “we live in a society full of falsehoods, in which hypocrisy is called diplomacy; to exploitation, business; to injustice, established order; to corruption, liveliness; to the submission of peoples, national sovereignty”.
The media related to the Government have disclosed some alleged audios of Father Harvey Padillain July 2018, in which he allegedly suggests tying up and even hiding in a toilet a policeman who was murdered and burned in the framework of the civic protests of that year, repressed with bullets by the Ortega regime.
“The peace of Jesus sustains the pastors of the Church who, like Jesus, still persecuted and slandered, continue to be passionate witnesses of the light, sowers of peace and prophets of hope,” said Monsignor Báez.
“Jesus is with us and never tires of whispering his fiery words to our hearts: ‘Do not lose your peace, nor be cowardly,'” he added.
