Rome talks seek solution to Nicaraguan priests row

by John Carey
T \LKS were held in Rome this week in the latest attempt to end the controversy over the priests who hold government posts in Nicaragua. A three-man delegation from the Nicaraguan government had two meetings with the secretary of the Vatican Council of Public Affairs, Arch-bishop Silvestrini. The president of the Nicaraguan bishops' conference. Archbishop Miguel Obando y Bravo, has also been in Rome for the past fortnight.
Two weeks ago the bishops ordered four of the priests holding political posts to step down immediately. The four are among more than 20 who hold government office. They include three cabinet ministers — Fr Miguel D'Escoto, the Foreign Minister, Fr Ernesto Cardenal, minister of culture, and Fr Edgar Parrales, the welfare Minister: the fourth is Fr Fernando Cardenal, the leader of a Sandinista youth movement who was responsible for the recent literacy campaign in Nicaragua.
The bishops' statement said: "We declare that those priests who at present hold public posts and engage in factional functions must leave them at once and fully rejoin their priestly ministry.
Otherwise we will consider them to be in open rebellion and disobedience to the legitimate authority of the Church. Therefore they become subject to the Church sanctions due in such cases." The statement did not say what those sanctions were.
The priests responded with a statement pledging their fidelity to the Church but reiterating their commitment to the Sandinista revolution.
They made it clear that they were not rejecting the bishops' order out of hand but that they felt they could not break the agreement which they had with the government. They said: "It is our faith and hope that we will serve our compatriots in the positions to which we have been appointed and will continue wherever our service is needed."
The four men have indicated that they are keen to discuss the matter further with their bishops. However, since the bishops' statement was released both Archbishop Obando and two other bishops have been out of the country.
It is believed that the Vatican is concerned over the hard line taken by the bishops. Despite a general ruling last year that priests should not hold political posts, Rome has shown itself to be sympathetic to the special circumstances thought to obtain in Nicaragua.