Nicaraguan Bishops Chide Ortega: Justice
Requires Action and Not Just Prayer
Managua (CNA).- In response to Nicaraguan
President Daniel Ortega’s recent “invitation
to pray” and to refrain from giving opinions
on political issues, the bishops of
Nicaragua reminded that justice requires
action and not just prayer. The one who
prays, they said, must always speak out to
defend the truth.
Ortega responded to recent criticism of his
administration by “exhorting” the bishops to
“pray everyday.” According to El Nuevo
Diario, Archbishop Leopoldo Brenes of
Managua said, “We don’t belong to any
political party, but we do exercise
political action at a general level, which
means for the common good … .” “Generally as
pastors we are always in tune with the sense
of our people, and we convey that to those
who have the capacity to bring about
solutions to problems.”
For his part, the vice president of the
bishops’ conference, Bishop Juan Abelardo
Guevara, responded to Ortega’s comments by
saying it was “abominable to use the word of
the Lord to justify absurd positions.”
“Tax dollars are not for a specific family
or person but for the entire people, and the
people have a right to know how the money is
being spent in their name,” Bishop Guevara
said. He called on Ortega to be “honest and
transparent” in his governance of the entire
nation.
Auxiliary Bishop Silvio Jose Baez Ortega of
Managua said, “Praying does not exempt you
from speaking or working for justice.” He
also reminded the president to listen to the
opinions of others, to examine his own
conscience and to practice self-correction.
“To speak about prayer is to speak of the
experience of a relationship with God.
Whoever speaks about prayer must be a person
who lives his faith,” the Bishop Baez Ortega
said.
“He who prays has the obligation to raise
his voice in support of the truth,” he
added. “Praying does not exempt one from
working for justice, from being a prophet.
In the Bible, the prayer and the prophet go
hand in hand. He who prays, he who speaks
with God, speaks also of God and also
denounces the situations in which God is not
present.” |
