Monsignor Silvio Báez, auxiliary bishop of Managua, urged the Catholic congregation not to remain silent and to persevere in demanding justice for all the abuses and human rights violations.
Citing the biblical parable —St. Luke: 18: 1-8— about the widow who asked for justice from an unjust judge, the prelate reflected that “the widow did not opt for silence before that evil judge. Silence is not the best option when people’s dignity is violated.
Related news: Monsignor Báez responds to Ortega for accusations against the Church: “A dictator giving lessons in democracy”
He affirmed that in unjust societies, silence does not favor the persecuted and the victims. “If we remain silent in the face of the manipulation of the law, in the face of unjust aggression or in the face of infamous trials against innocent people, we become accomplices in all this iniquity,” he pointed out.
Regarding the way to demand justice, Báez emphasized that “there is no need to use insults, we must not return evil for evil, nor must we ever resort to violent means. What we cannot do is be indifferent and passive. The widow in the parable did not use violence, nor did she attack the unjust judge,” she pointed out.
“You have to raise your voice and document the crimes”
On the other hand, Báez said that in the fight for justice “it is easy to get tired and come to believe that the efforts made to denounce the executioners and defend the victims are useless.”
In the end, although late in coming, justice always triumphs. We must never give up the effort to dream and build human relationships based on truth, law and justice”, he added.
He also insisted that one must raise one’s voice to denounce and that “Crimes must be documented, the right and voice of the victims must be asserted and, above all, there must be great confidence in the force of justice.”
“The widow in the parable was persevering, insisting again and again, ceaselessly claiming her rights. This is another great lesson that this poor woman gives us, who in the end obtained justice from the evil judge, “emphasized the prelate.
“Tyrants will meet their end”
Referring to regimes that abuse their power to impose violence and repression against peoples, the bishop “indicated that those who manipulate the laws and lend themselves to carrying out infamous trials against innocent people, will meet their end.”
“Sooner or later they will render an account before justice and hear a condemnatory verdict against them, either here in this world, before human tribunals, or later, before the tribunal of the just God who loves justice (Psalms 11:7)… », he stressed.
“Despite the fact that sometimes things do not improve as we would like and evil seems to impose itself relentlessly; despite the fact that sometimes it seems that God does not hear us or is slow to act, Jesus wants us to trust in the goodness and justice of God and not stop hoping in him».
«Jesus wants us to be before God, like the widow in the parable before the wicked judge: insistent and persevering. Above all because God is not a perverse judge, but a Father who loves us infinitely, listens to us and always cares for us with tenderness and wishes all our good. No cry that springs from human pain remains unheard by God. No prayer of ours is lost, they all reach the heart of God », she concluded.
The prelate’s words come when Nicaragua is suffering from a repressive state directed at all social sectors, including the Catholic Church. Daniel Ortega’s regime has nine priests in prison, there are 219 political prisoners and more than 100,000 exiles since the beginning of the 2018 civic protests.
