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Nicaragua and the Persecuted Church. The Price of the Pact with the Devil

09-08-2024Weekly ReflectionFr. Leonard Villa

Recently an essay appeared by Julio Loredo about the persecution of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua. What follows are some points and information about this persecution and the silence of the Holy See based on a misguided policy with respect to communist governments which Loredo calls “a pact with the devil.” https://www.aldomariavalli.it/2024/08/31/ilnicaragua-e-la-chiesa-perseguitata-il-prezzo-del-patto-coldiavolo/

- The persecution against the Catholic Church in Nicaragua has reached unprecedented extremes. Since 2018, 245 religious figures – including the Apostolic Nuncio, three bishops and 136 priests – have been expelled from the country. Attacks against churches are multiplying. 92 were documented during the first half of 2024 alone. In 2023, 740 attacks on priests and nuns were recorded. The Marxist government of Daniel Ortega considers the Church a “public enemy,” on a par with the hated “Yankee imperialism.” Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo, call priests “terrorists,” “coup plotters,” “ministers of the devil.” More than one bishop, including Bishop Rolando Álvarez, has ended up in prison. Religious processions are prohibited. In December 2023, the government launched the “Zero Christmas” campaign, to eradicate this holiday.

-Several international human rights organizations have raised heartfelt protests, as have many religious authorities. CELAM (Latin American Episcopal Conference) has issued a Declaration protesting this. In stark contrast, the Vatican, apart from a vague and ineffective reference to the mental condition of the dictator Ortega, has so far maintained an embarrassing silence, limiting itself to welcoming to Rome a few opposition priests expelled by the regime. Will its hands be tied by the pact with Communist China, of which Nicaragua is a close ally? There is no shortage of news about the persecution, but there is one point that I do not think has been mentioned: Daniel Ortega was brought to government …by the sector (of the Church) aligned with Liberation Theology. In the years 1960-1970, the current of Liberation Theology supported, and sometimes even led, the various socialist revolutions in Latin America. Among the “traveling companions” of international communism, in its long march of conquest, perhaps none was as useful as Liberation Theology, especially in Latin America.

NOTE: The Holy See in the 80’s rejected aspects of so-called liberation theology in several doctrinal statements. The rejection included its embracing Marxist categories in considering the poor and social justice. A key objection to the content of liberation theology was that liberation theologians misrepresent the Biblical message and misunderstand key Christian ideas. This occurs because they interpret the Bible in the light of experience making use of Marxist ideas and terminology. Marxist ideas like class-struggle and atheism are at odds with Christianity. Liberation theologians read Biblical stories in such a way that the political/social message is the only one of interest to them. It is not a mistake to see a political message, but it is a mistake to see it as the only message.

Liberation theologians prioritize dealing with social and structural sin without recognizing that personal sin is the real problem. Liberation theologians need to recognize that evil structures come from evil people, not the other way round. Liberation theology confuses human effort and human social progress with salvation and the Kingdom of God. It does not recognize that real salvation comes from God and only from God. Otherwise Christianity loses its distinctive and sacramental elements and becomes just a social message. On the other hand it is important to note that the criticism did specifically say that Christians should be concerned with social justice, they should try to change society and they should pay attention to the social message of the Gospel. The criticism of Liberation Theology 'must not be taken as some kind of approval, even indirect, of those who keep the poor in misery, who profit from that misery, who notice it while doing nothing about it, or who remain indifferent to it. The Church, guided by the Gospel of mercy and by the love for mankind, hears the cry for justice and intends to respond to it with all her might.' The dispute is not about whether the poor should be helped but HOW they should be helped.

-Nicaragua, a small Central American country with an overwhelming Catholic majority, will go down in history as a textbook case in which the Liberation Theology movement managed to seize power, in alliance with the communist forces of the FSLN (Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional). It was a matter of applying the classic communist scheme: well-trained minorities who exploit situations of tension in the countryside and in the cities to create enough discontent to lead to a popular revolution. The dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza Debayle (1925-1980) seemed to offer the ideal climate. Yet, just a few years later, the Sandinista offensive had run aground, deprived of popular support. Firmly Catholic, the masses were resistant to Marxist preaching.

- At this point, however, a new factor intervened. Basic Ecclesial Communities (CEB) inspired by Liberation Theology, then dominant in the Church in Nicaragua, led by the Archbishop of Managua, Monsignor Miguel Obando y Bravo (who later toned down his positions). Using “consciousness-raising” techniques, the CEB managed to transform many Catholics into revolutionaries, directing them towards the FSLN. The result of this symbiosis between Liberation Theology and the communist insurgency was the military victory of the FSLN in July 1979. A Junta then took power, presided over by the guerrilla Daniel Ortega. The collusion of the local Church with Sandinismo was such that in the first Sandinista government there were three priests: Father Miguel d'Escoto, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Father Ernesto Cardenal, Minister of Culture; and Father Fernando Cardenal, Minister of Public Education. In other words, it was the current of Liberation Theology, then dominant, that brought Daniel Ortega to government, making a pact with the devil

- Years and decades passed, and now the devil was turning against those who had helped him by action or omission. In the meantime, Soviet communism ended, and Ortega himself was ousted from government in 1990. Liberation theologians recycled themselves into new expressions of their errors: Indigenous Theology, Gay Theology, Feminist Theology, Ecological Theology, and so on. Daniel Ortega, however, remained the same. After an interlude, Ortega regained power in 2007 and never let go, effectively becoming a tyrant.

- Faced with criticism from ecclesiastical authorities, who accused him of violating human rights, Ortega responded by launching a brutal persecution against the Church. In 2018, the Vatican had to recall the auxiliary bishop of Managua to Rome to prevent his assassination. In 2022, Ortega expelled the apostolic nuncio. Several religious orders have been closed, including the Daughters of Charity of Mother Teresa. So far, the Vatican has refrained from officially and categorically condemning the persecution in Nicaragua. We mentioned a possible reason above. Nicaragua has become a sort of protectorate of communist China to which the Vatican is also linked by a Treaty whose many clauses are secret. What is the true nature of the ties between the Pope and the communist government of Beijing?

NOTE: Not everything a Pope does or promotes is doctrinal and binding. This is especially true in decisions concerning diplomacy and the day to day running of the Vatican. These are usually referred to as “prudential judgments.” A prudential judgment is an evaluation of a situation where you use the virtue of prudence in order to determine the best approach to resolving the issue at hand. Prudence is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it. . . . With the help of this virtue we apply moral principles to particular cases without error and overcome doubts about the good to achieve and the evil to avoid. Catechism of the Catholic Church(1806).

This papal approach to communism repeats the disastrous policy of Pope Paul VI called Ostpolitik: that you can “dialog” with and make deals with communists naively assuming their good will because the Church is attempting to show good will. This ignores a principle in the Church’s own Compendium of Catholic Social Teaching #92 that communism/Marxism is intrinsically perverse. It ignores the disastrous record of harm to the Church by Ostpolitik. See https://www.firstthings.com/webexclusives/2016/07/the-ostpolitik-failed-get-over-it It also reflects the corporate Jesuit “romance” with and promotion of a liberation theology encouraged by the revolution in the Jesuit Order (not all individual Jesuits, many of whom opposed this) brought about by Father Pedro Arrupe, in the 70’s. Fr Arrupe very much influenced this Pope. Ortega is a “child” of a disastrous policy promoted by various churchmen in Latin America in the past. Pray the Rosary for the defeat of Marxism/Communism in all its forms. Pray for the persecuted Church. Viva Cristo Rey. Long Live Christ the King.

VOTE TO PROTECT PARENTAL RIGHTS AND PROTECT YOUR CHILDREN FROM GENDER IDEOLOGY. VOTE NO TO PROPOSAL NUMBER ONE WHEN YOU VOTE. PARENTS ARE THE PRIMARY TEACHERS OF THEIR CHILDREN NOT THE STATE.

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