Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Managua (Agenzia Fides) - Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes, Archbishop of Managua, asked the country, with a Catholic majority, to pray for the judges to make decisions "related to the truth", in reference to the case of the presidential candidate Cristiana Chamorro Barrios, whom he did not mention, who is accused of alleged "abusive management and ideological falsehood, in competition with money laundering and assets".
During Sunday mass on June 6, broadcast by the Nicaraguan Catholic Channel from the Cardinal's house due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Cardinal Brenes asked us to pray "for all our judges in the delicate mission of ensuring justice, so that everyone can be guided by the Spirit who always leads us towards the truth, so that all his judgments and decisions are in accordance with the truth".
In the video sent to Agenzia Fides through social networks, Cardinal Brenes said he felt "the concern of many brothers, who with great sadness see how many of our fellow citizens are summoned and questioned".
In Managua, the daughter of former president Violeta Barrios de Chamorro (1990-1997), accused by the Prosecutor's Office, has been under house arrest since June 2. Cristiana Chamorro Barrios, who according to the local press is popular enough to win the general elections on November 7, the Judiciary has prevented her from participating in the elections, in which President Daniel Ortega seeks his third re-election for the fourth consecutive term. The prosecutor has summoned reporters and legal representatives from several companies to question them next week. According to news agencies, Chamorro called the investigation against her "a farce".
What Cardinal Brenes expressed on Sunday is shared by the country's main Catholic leaders. The Bishop of the diocese of Matagalpa, Mgr. Rolando Álvarez, said: "One should not exclude others for one's own benefit, censoring and eliminating opponents, because then politics becomes militarized and deprives it of its true meaning, which is the search for the common good. If done this way, we put the country on the brink of a devastating dynamic". The Bishop recommended: "We can no longer just look back and anchor ourselves in the past without learning from it, because this endangers the future of our people, especially the poorest and most vulnerable, who are confronted with poverty and the rising cost of living", he concluded.
According to official figures, 58.5% of the 6.5 million inhabitants in Nicaragua belong to the Catholic Church. (CE) (Agenzia Fides, 8/6/2021)
