Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
anagua (Agenzia Fides) – This past Sunday, Feast of Christ the King, hundreds of Catholics participated in processions for peace, following the petition made by the Bishops' Conference in their most recent statement, in which they asked that Eucharistic Processions be organized wherever possible (see Fides 20/11/2008), as the political crisis unleashed in the country after elections, continues.
In Managua, the faithful walked until noon, in the intense heat, around the new Cathedral of Managua and other Catholic churches. After of the procession, the faithful took part in a Mass inside the Cathedral, which Archbishop Leopold Brenes of Managua reiterated the call for peace, after two weeks of violence and fighting between leaders of the government and the opposition party, with street fights among their supporters, which have wounded many people. “All of us desire and long for peace,” Archbishop Brenes said in his homily.
Similar processions took place in another 300 parishes in Managua and in the other Catholic churches of the country, which has been living our a conflict that is involving the four federal branches: executive, legislative, judicial, and electoral. The crisis worsened after Ortega issued a decree legitimizing the results of the elections, which the opposition planned to nullify in Congress. The decree declared the initiative of the 41 congressmen “unconstitutional,” as Parliament does not have say over the Electoral Council, which is autonomous. The leaders of the opposition rejected the decree and the arguments made by Ortega, and accused him of having tried to impose himself on the other powers, such as Congress and the Electoral Council. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 25/11/2008)
