From his condition of exile imposed by the Sandinista regime, Monsignor Silvio José Báez, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Managua, shared the gospel of this Sunday, December 1, in which he exhorted Nicaraguans not to “submit” and to maintain their heads up.
The prelate, in the publication that he published on his bowed, discouraged or subdued, but with our heads held high.
«The Lord is near. We must look to the future with confidence and not stop hoping and fighting,” encouraged the bishop.
Monsignor Báez’s message comes in a context in which the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo has imposed a series of reforms in the Political Constitution of Nicaragua; General Immigration and Immigration Law; Nicaragua Penal Code; Law on Organization, Functions, Career and Special Social Security Regime of the National Police; and in the Code of Organization, Jurisdiction and Military Security, with which it seeks to consolidate its power structure, further subject the Nicaraguan population and legalize human rights violations.
“Stand up and lift up your heads, because your deliverance is drawing near” (Luke 21:28). God does not want people bowed down, discouraged or subdued, but with their heads held high. The Lord is near. We must look to the future with confidence and not stop hoping and fighting. #ThisGospelToday pic.twitter.com/ZJGJlXzqcH
— Silvio José Báez (@silviojbaez) December 1, 2024
Some of the recent reforms proposed by Ortega and Murillo in the Constitution, in addition to extending the presidential term from five to six years and creating the positions of co-presidents, limit the rights and freedoms of Nicaraguans, including religious freedom.
Ortega established that religious or cult freedom can be exercised as long as the principles of the Political Constitution of Nicaragua are respected, which was also deformed by Ortega’s regime and is now oriented towards the country being “revolutionary.”
Day of prayer for the persecuted church in Nicaragua
Among the 130 articles that the dictator directed to reform the Political Constitution of Nicaragua, specifically in the change to article 14, the regime also noted that “the State will guarantee freedom of worship, faith and religious practices in strict separation between the State and the Church”, emphasizing that “religious organizations must be kept free of all foreign control.”
Human rights and even religious defenders in the region, in recent weeks, have expressed concern about recent changes in Nicaraguan legislation, which could unleash greater persecution of Catholic leaders and parishioners.
This week, the bishops of Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, meeting in the Assembly of the Episcopal Secretariat of Central America (SEDAC), announced that on December 8, during the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, They will carry out a day of prayer for the Catholic Church in Nicaragua.
The day will have the motto “We shout with Nicaragua”, inspired by the biblical passage “If one member suffers, we all suffer with him.” The prelate of the Central American region, when announcing the day, reiterated his “deep solidarity and communion with the people of God in Nicaragua.”
