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CV NEWS FEED // Bishops from Central America have called for the faithful to observe Dec. 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, as a day of prayer for Nicaragua, which is facing rampant religious persecution from the Nicaraguan government under President Daniel Ortega.
In November, Ortega banned priests from administering Last Rites in hospitals. The regime exiled Bishop Carlos Enrique Herrera Gutiérrez of Jinotega, president of the Nicaraguan Episcopal Conference, the same month, sending him to Guatemala. Bishop Rolando José Alvarez of Matagalpa was exiled to Rome in January after spending 500 days in a prison that Rep. Chris Smith (R.-NJ) has described as “Ortega’s gulag.”
“Let us express our profound solidarity and communion with the people of God in Nicaragua, who often face a challenging reality,” bishops from Guatemala, Panama, Costa Rica, and El Salvador said in a statement, Vatican News reported Dec. 1.
They also called on all Central American faithful to observe the day of prayer “so that no one feels alone.”
This week, Pope Francis wrote a pastoral letter to the Church in Nicaragua, expressing encouragement and solidarity, as CatholicVote previously reported.
“Do not forget the loving Providence of the Lord, who accompanies us and is the only sure guide,” the Pope wrote. “Precisely in the most difficult moments, when it becomes humanly impossible to understand what God wants from us, we are called not to doubt His care and mercy.”
“The filial trust you have in Him and also your fidelity to the Church are the two great beacons that illuminate your existence,” he continued. “Be certain that faith and hope work miracles. Let us look to the Immaculate Virgin: she is the luminous witness of this confidence.”
The Pope said he hopes the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, which prepares the Church for the opening of the Jubilee 2025 will provide encouragement.
“On this feast, do not forget to abandon yourself to Jesus’ arms, with the invocation Dios primero, ‘God first’, which you often repeat,” the Pontiff said.
