The foreign vicar of Masaya, Father Bismark Conde, will no longer continue to occupy the parish chair of the Santa María Magdalena Church in the heroic neighborhood of Monimbó, after this past June 11, Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes, Archbishop of Managua, appointed the new administrator and parish priest of this Catholic temple; Father Alberto Mercado.
The appointment occurs almost three months after the exile of the priest Pedro Méndez, former parish priest of this Church, from Masaya, who had to leave his position to be protected with the help of the parishioners and the religious authorities themselves, in the face of threats jail of the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.
Through a statement, the Archdiocese of Managua oriented this Sunday several changes in different parishes of Managua, Masaya and Carazo, among which stands out; the appointment of the parish priest and vicar of the Santa María Magdalena church, which was under the leadership of Father Conde. This religious would have assumed the direction of this religious community since the end of last March, in the absence of a parish administrator.
Related news: Police close Iglesia Magdalena de Masaya and prevent priest from entering
Cardinal Brenes announced that Father Alberto Mercado, currently head of the San Judas Tadeo parish in Managua, will assume the church of Santa María Magdalena, in Monimbó, together with the priest Andrés Maya, who served as vicar in the parish of Santa Teresita del Niño Jesús.
besieged temple
Father Mercado would assume a new pastoral mission in the city of Masaya in a context of siege, persecution and false accusations against the Catholic Church and its authorities, especially in the midst of the recent dismissal of the Sandinista commissioner Pedro Argueta, who did not he would not have lasted even a month in his position.
The priests will assume the parish administration of the Santa María Magdalena church, 11 weeks after the departure of the parish priest Pedro Méndez, who was besieged and harassed by the now dismissed commissioner of Masaya, the Ortega member Juan Valle Valle.
During the third week of March, rumors of the immediate departure of Father Méndez from the Monimbó church alarmed the parishioners, who immediately asked for prayer and fasting for the persecution of the Catholic Church and its priests. The religious would have left his parish for fear of being kidnapped.
Days before his departure, the Police denied the priest to hold a procession in honor of the San Lázaro festivities, one of the busiest and most picturesque in this city. Although at first it was believed that the prison threats originated due to this event, days later it was confirmed that everything happened after having called for a prayer for the release of the Bishop of Matagalpa, Monsignor Rolando Álvarez.
The Catholic priest would have asked the parishioners to hold a day of prayer and fasting for Bishop Álvarez, who is serving a 26-year prison sentence and remains in isolation by order of the dictator Ortega.
Siege, attacks and threats
Since 2018 the church of Monimbó, like the priest who administered it, would have been a victim of violence and desecration, because in July of that year after the start of anti-government demonstrations throughout the country, the parish was brutally attacked during the so-called “cleaning operation” that left more than 300 dead.
Since then, every July 17, the religious community commemorates one more anniversary of the attack on the Monimbó religious temple, which received multiple shots from paramilitaries that damaged the infrastructure of the church, while Father Méndez was heavily beaten by hooded civilians and police. who entered the parish with luxury of violence.
On November 7, 2021, during the “electoral farce” in which Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo were awarded the Presidency and Vice Presidency of Nicaragua, Father Méndez reportedly resonated throughout the country when several photographs of the high altar of Nicaragua were disseminated on social networks. the Santa María Magdalena church, in which a banner appeared with a message rejecting the general voting.
«Our fingerprint will be cleaned by the persecuted church; because we bishops and priests are not children of the devil, nor coup plotters, nor terrorists; for the imprisoned, exiled and unemployed; for those who have died asking for freedom », read on the blanket.
By United Voices
