In the midst of the repressive escalation unleashed by the Ortega-Murillo regime against the Catholic Church in recent weeks, the Archbishop of Managua, Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes, called on Catholics to be calm and assured that, by the Holy Spirit, soon the Church will have the respective solution.
During his Pentocost homily, this Sunday, May 28, the hierarch insisted that Catholics should not be afraid, because “fear comes from satan.” “Don’t be afraid,” he insisted.
Although the religious institution is going through moments of rising Ortega persecution, Cardinal Brenes was extremely calm and even said that the news has exaggerated the situation.
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“I invite you to always remain calm and not be influenced by networks or news that really exaggerate, I read them little, but sometimes when they send it to me, it makes me laugh to see everything they say,” said the highest representative of the Nicaraguan Catholic Church.
The media have given extensive coverage to the intensification of the repression against the Church, which includes the arrest of three priests and this Saturday, the official communiqué of the regime’s Police, in which it directly accuses the Catholic Institution of harboring an alleged “money laundering network”.
According to the Police, they found “hundreds of thousands of dollars” hidden in bags in some dioceses, and they also accuse people from the Church of having made financial movements in frozen accounts. This alleged investigation led to the freezing of all bank accounts in various dioceses in the country.
However, the Archbishop of Managua considers that “social networks exaggerate the news”, at the same time he pointed out that the media do not reveal the “reliable sources” that provide them with information, thus criticizing a measure that both the sources and the media have taken so as not to risk those involved as their families.
During his Pentecost homily, he called on Catholics not to be afraid and to trust in the Holy Spirit, who, he said, is the one who manages the Church of Nicaragua and who will soon “give us the respective solution.” Likewise, Brenes called on the country’s priests to preach with joy and humility.
«Our preaching will reach others with joy and happiness if we do it with the Spirit. If we prepare ourselves, I tell you with great force and with great joy,” said the archbishop.
The religious leader made no further allusion to the critical situation that the Church is going through, after the serious accusation made by the Police that they have discovered a money laundering network within the institution.
