Denver Newsroom, Jul 20, 2022 / 15:43 pm
During a recent pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Divine Child in the Diocese of Matagalpa, Nicaragua, Bishop Rolando Álvarez said that prayer “is what will save Nicaragua” and called for a “crusade” in the coming months.
The country has been embroiled in a political and economic crisis since 2018, when demonstrations broke out and then were put down by police and paramilitaries, resulting in more than 400 deaths.
“On behalf of all my brother priests of our blessed and beloved Diocese of Matagalpa, I want to call each and every one of you to (join in) a crusade of prayer and adoration for our Church, our priests, and our beloved Nicaragua,” the prelate said July 17 during the pilgrimage’s closing Mass.
Álvarez explained that the crusade will consist of fasting during the day on the first Friday of each month, which is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He also requested that on the coming feast days of the Virgin Mary the Holy Rosary be prayed at 5:30 a.m. and the faithful practice the devotion of praying a thousand Hail Marys.