Bishop Carlos Herrera, president of the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua (CEN) and head of the Diocese of Jinotega, resumed his pastoral work more than a month since he was exiled to Guatemala by orders of the Nicaraguan dictatorship.
The religious supported the celebration of the “Ordinary Jubilee of Hope 2025” mass, officiated by the Archdiocese of Guatemala, led by Archbishop Gonzalo de Villa y Vásquez, last Sunday, December 29, and took the opportunity to publicly thank the welcome of the Guatemalan people.
In his speech, Monsignor Herrera expressed that “in a very special way” he thanks “Monsignor Gonzalo, archbishop of this Archdiocese, for his welcome, his prayer, his words of encouragement, since a few days after having crossed from Nicaragua I “He went to visit, encourage me, as well as the Franciscan community, and you too, because I know that when something happens to our Central American people, you are always attentive, praying.”
Related news: With the exile of Bishop Carlos Herrera, the dictatorship forces the church to return to “catacomb Christianity”
Also, he thanked “the clergy of this Archdiocese, for their prayers above all, and because they welcome many pilgrims who pass through here to the North, the different institutions, which have a space, a time to help them to continue walking, as they “It happened to the Holy Family, which had to go through those difficult moments to be able to defend life.”
«Pray not only for me, but for the people of Nicaragua»
The president of the CEN also said he welcomed the prayers of the entire congregation and pleaded that they “pray not only for me, but for the people of Nicaragua, so that one day we can be and see each other together, as brothers, and appropriate our place, where we were also born.
«And, since this year is of Hope, I hope that hope does not disappoint me. Through the faith that the Lord himself gives us, we always hope that the future will be better,” Herrera added.
Related news: Bishop Carlos Herrera, president of the CEN, turned 76 in exile
On November 13, the president of the CEN was kidnapped by the Sandinista Police and then expressly exiled to Guatemala, becoming the fourth bishop exiled by the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship.
Bishop Herrera’s exile occurred three days after he branded sacrilegious to municipal authorities of Jinotega, who placed loudspeakers outside the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista de Jinotega, where he was preparing to deliver the homily on Sunday, November 10.
The expulsion of Monsignor Herrera in the last month has generated repudiation and condemnation from organizations defending Human Rights, Catholic activists and episcopal conferences in the Central American region. The Episcopal Conference of Panama pointed out that Ortega’s action is “an act that represents not only an aggression against the Church, but also an attack on the dignity and fundamental rights of the Nicaraguan people.”
