Not before time, the Holy See has spoken up about the situation in Nicaragua. As the Catholic Herald reported, the government of Nicaragua recently ordered the closure of seven Catholic radio stations linked to a bishop who has been critical of President Daniel Ortega – Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, whose future remains in the balance, having been accused of inciting violent actors “to carry out acts of hate against the population”.
Álvarez was placed under house arrest after protesting the government’s closure of the stations, as he along with six priests and six lay Catholics were banned from celebrating Mass. The cleric is also accused of using media and social networks to carry out acts of violence and destabilise the country, having called for electoral reform and the release of political prisoners.
This recent incident did not happen in isolation. Relations between the Church and Ortega deteriorated after 2018, following protests against the regime and a subsequent crackdown. The Church tried to serve as a mediator, having initially been asked to do so by Ortega. The regime later accused several priests and bishops of conspiracy after the Church demanded justice for over 360 people who died. The Nicaraguan Church had been sympathetic towards the protesters, some of whom took shelter in Managua Cathedral.
Nicaragua also effectively expelled the Vatican’s ambassador. Archbishop Waldemar Sommertag had to leave the country following criticism of the regime. The archbishop had participated as a mediator and lobbied for the release of jailed government opponents. At the time, his expulsion was called “unjustified” by the Vatican.
Now, the Holy See’s Permanent Observer to the Organization of American States has expressed concern over the social and political situation in Nicaragua, calling for dialogue for the common good. This followed complaints by Latin American human rights activists over the Vatican’s deafening silence.
Speaking last week at the Special Session of the OAS Permanent Council focused on Nicaragua, Monsignor Juan Antonio Cruz Serrano noted “the Holy See cannot fail to express its concern in this regard, while assuring those who are committed to dialogue as an indispensable instrument of democracy and guarantor of a more humane and fraternal civilization that it always wishes to collaborate with.”
This came as Nicaraguan police banned a Catholic procession and pilgrimage in the capital, Managua, on Saturday, citing internal security. Catholics instead gathered for a large-scale Mass. The relative silence of the Vatican has been in sharp contrast to the courageous and vocal stand taken by the clergy in Nicaragua against a regime from which it suffers ongoing persecution.
Given what is happening, perhaps firmer language should have been used by the Holy See. The conference of Latin American Catholic bishops had, for instance, condemned the “siege” of clergy and “constant harassment” against the Nicaraguan people and the Church. What then took the Holy See so long?
Nicaragua is not the only country where the Church needs to stand up quicker and more vocally against tyranny. The most pressing example is with Communist China, where a 2018 deal between the Vatican and the Communist Party (CCP) is set for another renewal.
Even after the Vatican’s unofficial representative in Hong Kong warned Catholics the freedoms of the past were over, Pope Francis said he hoped the Vatican’s deal with the CCP could be renewed. Yet, one report by the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China found that Chinese Catholics suffered “increasing persecution” after the deal was signed.
Renewal of the agreement without conditions attached will almost certainly ensure persecution of Catholics continues and that clerics remain imprisoned. Thanks to his role in the deal, Cardinal Pietro Parolin may even be undermining his chances of succeeding Pope Francis. For his part, Cardinal Parolin recently said the Church is pacifist because it believes in peace. He told Italy’s Limes magazine: “The diplomacy of the Holy See is not linked to a state but to a reality of international law that has no political, economic, military interests.”
Cardinal Parolin added that dialogue with China “begun at the behest of St. John Paul II and continued during the pontificates of Benedict XVI and Francis”. Regarding the deal, he said “steps forward have been taken, but that not all obstacles and difficulties have been overcome and therefore there still remains a way to go for its good application and also, through sincere dialogue, for its refinement.”
Read into that what you will. Either way, the Church needs to speak up more firmly and directly against repression and tyranny, whether in the Americas or in east Asia. Recent words on the situation in Nicaragua are welcome but long overdue, and their understated tone in stark contrast with the courageous and vocal stance taken by the clergy in Nicaragua itself.
Now the situation in other parts of the world where Catholics and Christians face persecution should also be addressed with strong and uncompromising language. That begins with China and a re-evaluation of the deal with Beijing. Vatican City State – the only European country to recognise Taiwan – owes that much to China’s persecuted Catholics, Christians and other minorities.
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