“The tyrants are afraid of faith, of singing, of dancing and of the joy of the people that springs from their faith in God,” said Monsignor Silvio José Báez, during his Sunday homily, in a context in which the Nicaraguan dictatorship is prosecuting priests and prohibits the Catholic congregation from celebrating their patron saints with processions.
“Even the subjugated peoples must praise and sing to God. The oppressors want to silence the praise of the poor, preventing popular religious demonstrations and intimidating people,” denounced the auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Managua this Sunday, October 9, from the Saint Agatha church in Miami, United States.
In the face of repression, he maintained that the most important thing in life is not receiving a grace, healing from an illness or solving a problem, but rather meeting Jesus and welcoming the new life that only He can give, «then, joyous praise arises spontaneously and joyful, and thanksgiving to the Lord, always and everywhere.
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“Let us not allow the oppression and cruelty of the powerful to ever silence the song of faith, nor silence the grateful voice of the poor who sing to God,” he exhorted, after the believers of Nicaragua gave a sign of their faith in Masaya, where thousands celebrated their patron saints, despite the police siege.
He accepted that “it is difficult to sing in this situation. It is not an easy song. But, there is no Christian life without praise, without singing and without thanksgiving».
In the face of the sociopolitical and economic crisis unleashed by the dictatorship of Daniel Orteag and Rosario Murillo, which has exiled and forced more than one hundred thousand inhabitants to leave the country, including more than 50 exiled prieststhe bishop wondered «How to sing to God in a foreign land?».
The religious leader forced into exile in 2019responded that, even under these circumstances, “it is necessary to sing to God when we live with hope placed in Him and walk with faith in an exodus in which God is leading us to liberation.”
Monsignor Báez welcomes the priest in exile Erick Díaz
The advice was given while three exiled Nicaraguan parish priests participated in the mass: Father Edward Roman, who was the parish priest of the San Miguel Arcángel church in Masaya and did not return to the country due to the threats against him in 2021; the Father William Blandon, from the Santa Lucía de Boaco parish, of the Matagalpa diocese, who was prevented from entering the country in September; and the Father Erick Diaz Fernandezparish priest of San José Obrero in El Tuma-La Dalia, in the diocese of Matagalpa, who decided to leave irregularly in August due to the threat of imprisonment against him.
Monsignor Báez introduced Father Erick Díaz to the attendees, stating that the religious “has been harassed for more than a month, almost two months, by the Police and we are happy to have him here among us. Erick, “blessed are those persecuted for the sake of justice.” Welcome”.
“Pastors who simply wanted to be faithful to the Gospel and faithful to the people of God entrusted to them. With them present here we remember so many, so many more, Nicaraguan priests who are fleeing into exile due to the violent repression of the dictatorship in the country, “added the bishop.
He also insisted on continuing to pray for Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, of whom he said “suffers unjustly.” «Like every Sunday and while this drama lasts, I celebrate this Eucharist remembering my brother Bishop Monsignor Rolando José Álvarez, Bishop of Matagalpa, kidnapped, deprived of his freedom by the Police of the dictatorship in Nicaragua. I ask the Lord to be respected in his integrity and released because he is innocent, and he can return to his people as a shepherd, “he said.
“We need groups that walk together, not looking for privileges or applause”
In his homily on the biblical passage about the healing of the ten lepers, Monsignor stressed that “those lepers are not resigned to living rejected, ruminating on their own pain and seeing that their lives are extinguished in suffering and loneliness” and “when the men impose barriers that divide and impose themselves with their cruelty destroying the dignity of people, we always have the last resource, the most powerful: prayer. Cry out to God in prayer.
“Faith is also a path, sometimes dark and incomprehensible, but we must also travel the path of faith, even without understanding, even abandoning our securities and certainties. The secret is to walk, but never alone », we must help each other and seek the common good, he insisted.
«We have already suffered a lot because of sterile selfishness and useless confrontations that have made social coexistence a grotesque competition. We need people and groups that walk together, without tripping or disqualifying each other. You do not have to walk to arrive first and monopolize privileges and applause, but to build together a new coexistence based on brotherhood, peace and justice, “added the prelate.
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He concluded by reiterating that “the greatness and strength of our people is that they do not stop singing to God in the very heart of injustice, while at the same time striving to dream and build a new society. Let us always thank and praise God (…) the God who is always on the side of those who fight for a new world, freed from so many leprosy that denigrate and humiliate human dignity».
