Argentine archdiocese asks for volunteers to join overnight pastoral team

The Vatican flag and the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica. / Credit: Bohumil Petrik/ACI

ACI Prensa Staff, Mar 20, 2023 / 17:00 pm (CNA).

The Holy See reported on Saturday that the Vatican’s diplomatic headquarters in Nicaragua was forced to close.

“Yesterday, March 17, the chargé d’affaires of the apostolic nunciature in Nicaragua, Monsignor Marcel Diouf, left the country for Costa Rica. The closure of the diplomatic headquarters of the Holy See occurred as a result of a request from the Nicaraguan government on March 10, 2023,” Vatican News reported.

The Vatican news outlet indicated that “by virtue of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, custody of the apostolic nunciature and its assets was entrusted to the Italian Republic.”

“Before his departure, Diouf was greeted by diplomatic representatives accredited in Nicaragua from the European Union, Germany, France, and Italy,” it said.

Diouf was the last Vatican official in Nicaragua and assumed the role of business manager after the government of Daniel Ortega expelled the apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag, in March 2022.

On March 12, the Nicaraguan Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that it was considering suspending diplomatic relations with the Vatican.

This occurred two days after an interview with Pope Francis was published in which he harshly criticized the Ortega regime — where the Catholic Church is persecuted — and compared it to “the communist dictatorship of 1917 or the Hitler dictatorship of 1935.”

He also mentioned the bishop of Matagalpa, Rolando Álvarez, who was sentenced to 26 years in prison for his opinions against the regime. “A very serious man, very capable. He wanted to give his testimony and did not accept exile,” the Holy Father said.

Likewise, in reference to Ortega, the pope pointed out that “with great respect, I have no choice but to think there’s an imbalance in the person who leads” Nicaragua.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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Panama City, Panama, Aug 8, 2019 / 02:38 pm (CNA).- The standing committee of the Panamanian bishops’ conference has expressed its concern over a migration reform bill, asking that it be humane and respectful of the rights of immigrants and refugees.

They urged that immigrants and refugees not be seen as a threat, or blamed for the social ills affecting the country.

The bishops released their statement after the Government, Justice and Constitutional Affairs Commission of the National Assembly approved a bill seeking to establish tighter migration controls.

Zulay Rodríguez, the bill’s sponsor, said that in recent years many foreigners have abused the good things about Panama, and taken jobs from Panamanians: “They’ve taken away and stolen from us our country. We’re the excluded ones, so now we are going to make decisions.”

In their statement, the bishops recognized that the debate on the migration law reforms “has created tension among some sectors of society.” However, they called for not seeing migrants as a threat since “they’re people looking for better conditions for their lives because of forced displacement, human trafficking, violence, poverty, political persecution, and terrorism.”

“We can’t hold them responsible for the social ills affecting us as a country. Instead we should seek ways of encounter, dialogue, and peace that make us grow in fraternity and solidarity,” they said.

The Panamanian bishops said they are “aware of the need of the Panamanian state for a comprehensive migration policy that respects the rights and dignity of migrants and refugees.”

However, they pointed out that “this requires an analysis based on official data, the revision of current laws and decrees on migration, in order to adopt public migration policies that guarantee peace, solidarity with the helpless, security, and mutual respect between all the inhabitants of our country.”

Panama “has historically been a been a country of transit, consisting of migrations, some forced and others driven by the search for a better quality of life.”

They recalled that the country “has always kept its arms open to receive people from all over the world and this spirit of solidarity and fraternity must be strengthened, especially at this time.”

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Guatemala City, Guatemala, Jan 14, 2019 / 07:01 pm (ACI Prensa).- The bishops of Guatemala expressed Thursday their grave concern at confrontations among governmental branches over a UN anti-corruption investigatory body.

The Guatemalan government informed the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala Jan. 7 that its member were to leave the country within 24 hours. The commission had begun investigating president Jimmy Morales over election fraud and funding irregulaties in his 2015 campaign. Its remit is not due to end until September.

The Constitutional Court granted a temporary injunction Jan. 9 to block the government’s decision.

However, the Supreme Court of Justice then held a preliminary hearing to strip immunity from prosecution for judicial malfeasance from three of the five judges on the Constitutional Court, which has created tensions among the branches of government.

The Guatemalan bishops’ conference said Jan. 10 that “We deeply lament the open confrontation between the current government and other legitimately constituted state agencies which puts at risk the already fragile rule of law in the country. Therefore we reaffirm the need to defend the primacy of the rule of law and respect for the laws, beginning with the Constitution.”

They also said that they viewed “with satisfaction and relief the actions consistent with the law taken by the Constitutional Court” and rejected the “polarization that, taken to its extremes, degenerates into violence with grave consequences for social peace.”

“Thus energies are wasted that should be directed toward the solution of the country’s serious underlying problems such as deficiencies in healthcare, education, social inequality, unemployment, migration, the victims of natural disasters, disrespect for human rights  and so many others that are detrimental to the quality of life,” the bishops said.

In their communiqué the bishops also expressed their desire that the June 16 general elections “unfold under the conditions of the rule of law.”

“We ask all Guatemalans to be adequately informed. God willing, we will all do our best to ensure that the next electoral process be an opportunity to find solutions for the common good, for corruption or illegal financing,” they added.

Finally the Guatemalan bishops exhorted the entire Christian people to “to pray and commit themselves to building a different Guatemala.”

In addition to the statement of the Guatemalan bishops’ conference, Bishop Alvaro Leonel Ramazzini Imeri of Huehuetenango stated his worry Jan. 9 at president Morales’ decision, “contrary to the constitutional norms and principles and to the norms of international law,” to expel the anti-corruption commission.

The CICIG has been operating since 2006. It has no prosecutorial power, but rather assists in investigations, which are handed over to Guatemalan prosecutors. It has helped to make cases against high-profile politicians and business leaders.

This article was originally published by our sister agency, ACI Prensa. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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