Why Nicaragua's Cardinal is Facing Criticism Over 'Collaboration' with the Ortega Regime

The Pillar ^ | 4/5/23 | Edgar Beltran

[marshmallow]

An anonymous letter has made waves in Nicaragua, after it accused the country’s cardinal of being too close to the country’s dictator, President Daniel Ortega.

While persecution against the Church in Nicaragua continues unabated, a debate has cropped up among clergy in the country about the controversial, anonymous letter, reportedly written by seminarians, which accuses Managua Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes of fostering a culture of silence in the country’s seminary about ongoing religious persecution.

The letter, published March 28 by Spanish Catholic outlet Religión Digital and reportedly written by three current and former seminarians, also claimed that the Nicaraguan dictatorship has infiltrated seminaries, to report to the government the most politically active priests and seminarians.

Cardinal Brenes has been frequently criticized in Nicaragua by Catholics who believe the cardinal has been unduly cordial toward the Nicaraguan regime, which sentenced Bishop Rolando Álvarez to 26 years in prison, and has exiled around 20 priests and seminarians—while two other priests remain in prison.

But the March letter has amplified that criticism, and created an unexpected uproar against Brenes among clerics — especially after the cardinal’s own auxiliary bishop, Silvio Báez, now exiled in Miami, shared it on social media.

But why is Brenes accused of having sympathies for a dictatorship that has persecuted the Church in Nicaragua for years? Are the allegations true?

The letter was purportedly written by two current and one former seminarian at the Seminario La Purísima, a major seminary administered by the Archdiocese of Managua.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

The Sandinistas were ALways hardcore communists despite what the Washington Post wrote (Karen DeYoung).

Some Democrats never learn.