Managua, Nicaragua, Aug 14, 2009 / 12:08 pm
The clergy of the Archdiocese of Managua said Wednesday they were “profoundly worried and saddened” by the attacks on peaceful protesters by Sandinista sympathizers outside the Cathedral of Managua.
In a statement read by Auxiliary Bishop Silvio Jose Baez, the clergy said it was “alarming that the attacks were not an isolated incident but part of a policy of intolerance and total disrespect for the freedom of expression and assembly that each citizen enjoys. As believers we consider such actions to be an attack on the sacredness of the human person created in the image of God and temple of the Holy Spirit and a profanation of the sacred space of our Cathedral.”
They said Nicaragua urgently needs peace, “which for Christians means the absence of all forms of violence and a sincere commitment to the wellbeing of others, regardless of their ideology, political affiliation or social condition.”
The clergy called on Nicaraguans to “practice tolerance and peace, to use reason in explaining and defending their own ideas and not to succumb to the temptation of violence, since the Lord says, ‘He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword.’”