December 8 will be a day of prayer for Nicaragua
By Kielce Gussie
The Bishops of Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala have called for a day of prayer for the ongoing situation in Nicaragua. This invitation comes in the context of the 82nd Assembly of the Episcopal Secretariat of Central America.
A call from the Bishops
“Let us express our profound solidarity and communion with the people of God in Nicaragua, who often face a challenging reality.” This is how the Bishops’ statement read, entitled, "Central American Day of Prayer for the Church in Nicaragua. 'We cry out with Nicaragua.'" It called every diocese, vicariate, parish, and community in Central America to organize a day of prayer for the Church in Nicaragua, “so that no one feels alone,” even amid religious persecution.
Thus, on December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, people all over Central America and the world are invited to offer an “expression of closeness and fraternal appreciation.”
Special tradition on a special day
Like its Central American counterparts, December 8 is celebrated in a very special way in Nicaragua. It is marked by the tradition of “la gritería” or praise of admiration for the Virgin Mary. The Nicaraguan Catholic Church also holds the Virgin Mary as their Mother and Patroness.
With this in mind, the Central American Bishops chose this feast day for the day of prayer to “fraternally join” the cry of the Nicaraguan people, “which respectfully hopes to find an answer.”
More than 200 religious leaders expelled
This invitation to prayer responded to this ongoing turbulent situation in Nicaragua. The Ortega administration has expelled more than 200 religious leaders and arrested clergy members, including Bishop Rolando Álvarez. Most recently, the president of the country’s Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Carlos Herrera of Jinotega, was exiled—making him the third Nicaraguan bishop to be expelled from the country in the last year.
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