An official Vatican press release reported that they received with “surprise and pain” a communication from the Nicaraguan regime in which they were informed of the withdrawal of the apostolic nuncio, Monsignor Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag, to remain in the country.
“The Holy See has received with surprise and pain the communication that the Government of Nicaragua has decided to withdraw the approval (agrement) to His Eminence Monsignor Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag, Apostolic Nuncio in Managua since 2018, forcing him to immediately leave the country after notifying him of this measure,” the Vatican statement said.
This is the first official reaction of the Holy See, after learning of the untimely departure of the apostolic nuncio on the night of March 6. CONFIDENTIAL revealed this week through diplomatic sources that the nuncio “officially, was not declared non grata, but they transmitted a de facto expulsion order.”
The Nicaraguan government gave the priest a little over a week to leave the country, but after consultations with the Vatican, Archbishop Sommertag abandoned his diplomatic mission in Nicaragua on Sunday, March 6, without saying goodbye to the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua (CEN) or the diplomatic corps accredited in the country.
A statement from the Apostolic Nunciature confirmed that Sommertag “was absent from the country” that day and that the secretary of the Nunciature, Monsignor Mbaye Diouf, “remained in charge of the diplomatic mission as chargé d’affaires.”
“Such a provision is incomprehensible since, during his mission, His Eminence Monsignor Sommertag has worked tirelessly for the good of the Church and the Nicaraguan people, especially the most vulnerable, always seeking to favor good relations between the apostolic see and the authorities of Nicaragua. Nicaragua. His participation as a witness and companion of the National Dialogue table between the Government and the political opposition deserves particular mention, in view of the national reconciliation and the release of political prisoners, ”adds the statement.
The expulsion of the apostolic nuncio, Waldemar Stanisław Sommertag, carried out by the Ortega Murillo regime, without officially declaring him non grata, was forged as a result of at least four incidents caused by the Government, between January 10 and March 5, 2022, revealed to CONFIDENTIAL several sources linked to the former representative of the Holy See in Nicaragua.
On January 10, the date of Ortega’s self-proclamation as president, the apostolic nuncio traveled to Rome, generating a strong complaint from the country’s highest authorities about the reasons for his absence at Ortega’s inauguration ceremony, which with little international representation due to its crisis of legitimacy.
“Convinced that this serious and unjustified unilateral decision does not reflect the sentiments of the people of Nicaraguaprofoundly Christian, the Holy See wishes to reaffirm its full confidence in the pontifical representative”, adds the Vatican statement.
In the bulletin, nothing is mentioned about the appointment of a new nuncio to assume the diplomatic representation of the Holy See in Nicaragua.
This Wednesday, March 9, Monsignor Carlos Herrera, president of the CEN, in statements given to the channel 10 television newscast, acknowledged the deterioration of relations between the Ortega regime and the representative of Pope Francis.
“The Nunciature has made it known, but due to the pope’s decision, he left the secretary in the role of diplomat for the time being, until a new nuncio is appointed,” said Herrera.
The bishop recognized the strong differences between Vice President Rosario Murillo and the Vatican representative. “There have not been good relations, so the pope has decided that he resign from that function. There were certain limitations. So if there is no communication, what is the use of being in that diplomatic role, ”he explained.
