.- Two statues of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the principal Marian devotion in Nicaragua, were destroyed by vandals this week in the capital city of Managua.
According to news reports, the destroyed statues were placed in the streets and have been used for political purposes by supporters of the government.
Father Rolando Alvarez, director of Radio Catolica, told reporters, “We don’t know who did it, but we do know what they did. They destroyed in darkness and without mercy a symbol of the Catholic faith of millions of people in the nation, because each blow against the Virgin Mary is a blow against millions of Nicaraguans.”
“This is called profanation, he said. It has no other name and the only thing to do is pray for those who carry out such hatred against the symbols of the Church.” Father Alvarez demanded that the statues be removed from the streets, “where they are exposed to the mocking and disrespect for an entire Catholic nation.”
