A bleak picture for the Catholic Church in Nicaragua and its parishioners fear former diplomats and specialists in the face of the escalation of tensions between the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and the Vatican, after the latter ordered the unilateral suspension of relations with the Holy See, as a result of the declarations of the Pope Francis to the Argentine media Infobae in which he highlighted the similarities between Ortegaism and the communist and “Hitlerian” tyrannies of the last century.
Fernando Sánchez, who was Costa Rica’s ambassador to the Vatican (2010-2014), said that given the escalation of tensions between the regime and the Church, with incidents such as the expulsion of nuncio Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag, the ban on processions of Holy Week and Ortega’s speech in which he described the bishops, cardinals and popes as a mafia, was expected to lead to a suspension of diplomatic relations.
The former diplomat regretted that the regime has disregarded the permanent desire for dialogue expressed from the Vatican, despite the resurgence of the repressive escalation of the dictatorship against the Church, its bishops and priests.
“The Vatican has remained faithful to its style. He has been patient, he has sought in some way to promote dialogue, but obviously that has not been possible and it has not been possible not because of a lack of will on the part of the Holy See, but because of the intransigence of the Daniel Ortega regime,” reflected former ambassador Sánchez. .
“All the signs of aggression that have been given have not been from the Vatican, they have been from the regime towards the Catholic Church,” he added.
Humberto Belli and Martha Patricia Molina, two specialists interviewed on the program Tonight-streamed on YouTube and Facebook due to regime censorship- expressed their shock and concern at the regime’s reaction, something not seen in America in 162 years.
“A diplomatic blunder”
“It is a major diplomatic clumsiness of the Government of Nicaragua. The blow that Pope Francis evidently dealt the government with these statements, also unprecedented because the pope had never spoken like that about any head of state, is a demonstration of the low prestige into which the Nicaraguan dictatorship has fallen,” said Belli, a former minister. of education and whose nationality was stripped by the Ortega regime and sentenced to exile.
“The best thing would have been to let the blow pass. It would have been wiser, because by breaking relations with the Holy See, he attracts more world attention. People who perhaps didn’t even know what had happened with the Pope now realize it. This has increased the publicity of the event and Nicaragua looks tremendously bad before an institution of such prestige and spiritual power, especially before the Christian world”, he added.
Molina, who is a lawyer and researcher, author of the reports Nicaragua: a persecuted church, recalled that the regime has crossed all limits in its repressive escalation against the Church, including physical aggression such as the acid attack on a priest, or “terrorism”, as Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes described the attack with an incendiary bomb on the image of the Blood of Christ in the Managua cathedral.
“The only thing that this dictatorship lacks is to prohibit the Catholic religion through some decree or through the Political Constitution of Nicaragua, but all the steps that are taken for a total break with a State like the Vatican have already been taken. by Daniel Ortega”, he opined.
Ortega took out the “polishing box” with the Vatican
Belli, for his part, expressed his concern that the reprisals against the Church escalate seriously, given the null importance that the regime gives to the diplomatic consequences of its abuses.
“It is the stupidity of harming themselves unnecessarily, with that attitude that the Pope is worth me, the whole world is worth me. As we say in Nicaragua, they got out of the polishing box. They can still take further action, such as expelling all foreign priests and religious and closing all private Catholic schools. That is my fear,” said the former education minister.
Former ambassador Sánchez explained that in the case of the assets used by the Holy See to exercise its diplomatic functions in Nicaragua, these must be returned to their legitimate owners, if they are leased, or if they are private property of the Vatican, respect them as such.
However, he acknowledged that given precedents such as the one that occurred with the Taiwan embassy – confiscated by the dictatorship after being expelled from Nicaragua -, there is the possibility that Ortega’s regime appropriates assets linked to the Vatican.
“If the headquarters belongs to the country, then it still belongs to that country. You cannot use it for diplomatic functions, because there are no longer relations, but it is not that they are simply going to deprive you of your property. They belong to the original owner, if in one case they are leased. If it is private property of the country, then the country is the one that will decide how they will continue to be managed. Of course, this is so if we were in a rule of law, which is not the case in Nicaragua, ”he explained.
Nunciature in Managua will close the next few days
Diplomatic sources revealed to CONFIDENTIAL that the Vatican will close its Nunciature in Managua this week, after the charge d’affaires, Monsignor Marcel Diouf, leaves the country in the coming days on the orders of Daniel Ortega.
Monsignor Diouf had been in charge of the Vatican diplomatic mission since March 2022, after the expulsion by the Daniel Ortega regime of the apostolic nuncio, Monsignor Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag.
Former education minister Humberto Belli fears a confiscatory action by the regime, similar to what happened with the Taiwanese embassy, and that even the Nicaraguan Episcopal Conference itself is at risk of being directly affected by some arbitrariness of the regime.
“I fear that they will confiscate them and take measures against which the Episcopal Conference has no defense. Another great danger is that the Government decides to confiscate all the assets of the Church, not necessarily the temples, but other assets such as houses, properties, Church vehicles. The menu of repressive hate actions still leaves room for many more blows. We are under unprecedented persecution in the history of Latin America, ”she stressed.
Vienna Convention establishes status of diplomatic assets
Molina explained that the Vienna Convention establishes respect for the properties that function as diplomatic headquarters, but that given Ortega’s hate policy, there is a risk that the properties of the Holy See will be taken by force by the regime.
“These assets would have to be administered either by another delegation from an embassy of another country or by someone designated by the Vatican. It could be the same Episcopal Conference. But, I do not doubt that the Nunciature building or the other movable assets are going to be confiscated. Ortega’s regime already demonstrated it with the buildings where the OAS functioned, ”he pointed out.
Molina also explained that the suspension of diplomatic ties should not represent any obstacle in the Vatican’s relationship with the Nicaraguan Episcopal Conference, as well as in the appointment of bishops, priests or transfers between parishes or Diocese.
The spiritual role of the Church is above diplomatic conflict
Ambassador Sánchez argued that the spiritual role of the Vatican is not affected by the diplomatic crisis resulting from the unilateral suspension of relations ordered by Ortega.
“What has been broken here are diplomatic relations. The pastoral part, the universal guide of the Church is something else entirely. That responds to the faith of the citizens. The Nicaraguan people have every right to continue professing the faith that seems best to them. In this case, it is a majority Catholic people, and the Holy Father, as a universal guide, maintains all the powers in the appointment of bishops and other acts that have to do with the pastoral role of the Church”, he affirmed.
Belli, for his part, questioned the passive role of the Nicaraguan Episcopal Conference in this crisis and acknowledged that he does not expect any firm position from this body that brings together the bishops of Nicaragua in relation to the diplomatic escalation with the Vatican.
“We have already seen the Episcopal Conference with an extremely quiet, extremely prudent attitude, that there could also be an element of cowardice. We see that prudence has not produced any profit. They have remained silent and the Government has been hitting big savage slaps, ”said the former education minister.
Nicaragua’s request to suspend relations was executed at the Vatican headquarters on the night of Friday, March 10, 2023, hours after Pope Francis will provide his statements about the regime to Infobae.
The Nicaraguan Ministry of Foreign Affairs alleged in a statement that “a suspension of diplomatic relations has been proposed between the Vatican State and the Republic of Nicaragua,” suggesting the possibility of an agreement, but the Vatican revealed that it was a unilateral request for Ortega, who was received with “sadness” by the Holy See.