ACI Prensa Staff, Jan 9, 2024 / 18:00 pm
Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes, the archbishop of Managua, Nicaragua, ordained nine new priests in the midst of one of the worst waves of persecution against the Catholic Church in the country by the communist regime headed by President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo.
During the Mass, celebrated on Jan. 6, the solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, the archbishop asked the new priests to become true servants of the Lord and of souls in the image of the Blessed Virgin and St. John the Baptist.
Additionally, Brenes reminded them of the importance of having an abiding, close relationship with the Lord. “Let’s not let ourselves be filled with activities,” he counseled, noting that a priest must be filled with Jesus Christ so that his actions bear fruit. To that end, the cardinal stressed the importance of contemplation.
Given the intense persecution, on Dec. 31 Brenes himself — during a Mass he celebrated at Immaculate Conception of Mary Cathedral — read a message “of encouragement, of hope” in the face of the difficult situation the country is going through in terms of religious freedom.