Managua, Nicaragua, Oct 5, 2007 / 07:42 am
Father Rolando Alvarez, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Managua, said the sacrilege and profanation committed several days ago at the Cathedral was part of a national and international campaign to legalize abortion in Nicaragua.
Speaking to CNA, Father Alvarez said the anti-life campaign aims to repeal the law approved one year ago that prohibited therapeutic abortion and to get the Supreme Court to intervene in the case.
He said the Cathedral of Managua “is the mother of all the archdiocesan churches. It is open to all men and women of good will, such that all those who wish to celebrate the faith do so with love, fervor and devotion. If unscrupulous persons were to disrupt order, surely the police, in their task of protecting the integrity of Nicaraguans of good will,” would be ready to protect it.
“There are usually offenses against the Church, those who support abortion are very present in radio, television and the press with direct attacks on the Church, and also with campaigns of misinformation,” Father Alvarez said. But with the acts committed last Sunday by pro-abortion supporters who disrupted Mass at the Cathedral, they have “committed sacrilege by disrespecting the Eucharist.”
He called them “acts of aggression against our faith, against the greatest thing we have as Catholics which is the Eucharist. In fact, these groups usually cause violence and social disorder. They belong to pro-abortion groups that are well-known by the Nicaraguan people,” such as “Catholics for a Free Choice,” the priest said.
“The Church in Nicaragua is present in the media” and has made “the indisputable option for life” very clear, Father Alvarez continued. He said the Church in Central America should “continue guiding and leading our faithful people, explaining every situation through civilized means.” “Moreover, it’s clear that the Church in Nicaragua is a victim of a different kind of persecution than what we have suffered at other times,” he stated.