Bishop Báez of Nicaragua: The wounds of the people will be “historical scars” of oppression

Nicaraguan bishop Silvio Báez, exiled since 2019, warned that the wounds of the people of Nicaragua will stay as “historical scars” of oppression and that they will assist stop it from being repeated.

In the center of the fierce persecution against the Church on the half of the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, the prelate denounced the “false peace” that “dictators want to impose with fear and weapons.”

At the second, 309 religious — amongst bishops, clergymen and nuns — have been compelled to go away the nation, whereas the regime has confiscated no less than 39 properties of the Catholic Church and has ordination of priests prohibited in several dioceses.

A homily with a message of hope

In the homily of the Mass that he presided on Sunday, April 12 at the Santa Agatha Church in Miami, Florida (United States), the Nicaraguan prelate mirrored on the gospel passage by which the resurrected Jesus exhibits his wounds in order that Thomas can contact them.

Bishop Báez said that “like the glorious wounds of Jesus, so will one day be the wounds that we suffer when alleviating and healing with respect and mercy the wounds of others.”

“They will be scars healed by the love of God, glorious wounds forever, wounds of love destined for eternity. Also the wounded wounds of our people. One day they will only be historical scars that will remind us of the painful past of injustice and oppression so as not to repeat it,” he burdened.

“And those same wounds, healed and eloquent, will stimulate us to build the future, acting as artisans of peace, willing to generate processes of healing and reunion with ingenuity and audacity,” the prelate continued.

Bishop Báez denounces the “false peace”

The bishop additionally recalled the vigil for peace presided over by Pope Leo

“Even if they talk about peace, if they repress, control, imprison and force exile, they are enemies of peace. Because peace is not a simple balance of forces, nor is it identified with the tranquility of cemeteries. We must not get used to the false peace and deceptive normality that dictators want to impose with fear and weapons, just to preserve their privileges,” he continued.

For the fourth consecutive 12 months, the Nicaraguan dictatorship has banned hundreds of processions and public occasions for Lent and Easter weekpermitting only some on the streets and at all times underneath police surveillance.

A name to be peacebuilders

The prelate highlighted that “the disciples of Jesus, who have received his peace, are called to be builders of true peace, a peace that springs from justice. It is lived in freedom and bears reconciliation as fruit.”

To conclude, the bishop made needs that “the mercy of the Lord, welcomed in our hearts, makes us mature believers, serious builders of peace in the world and people capable of bowing with mercy before the wounds of our brothers.”

“Our life may not be easier, but it will be fuller, more vibrant and more full of light and love.”

Walter Sanchez Silva
I’ve been a husband since 2008. My spouse and I’ve three kids right here and one who went to heaven in 2023, earlier than he was born. Since I joined ACI Prensa in 2005, I’ve had the alternative to cowl varied occasions of the Catholic Church. Among them, the World Youth Days in Cologne, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro and the apostolic journeys of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico and of Pope Francis to South Korea. I’ve been despatched to the Vatican to cowl the Family synods, in 2015; of the Amazon, in 2019 and that of Synodality, in 2023. I intently observe the state of affairs of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, which suffers persecution from the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, in addition to present ecclesiastical occasions in the area.