Nicaraguan dictator Daniel Ortega once again attacked the Catholic Church and called the bishops “demons”. It was during in a speech lasting more than an hour and 20 minutes on 19 April.
“The bishops carrying out cups d’état, calmly with their signature there, with their full names. There was not a single bishop who did not sign, they all signed, even those who seemed more moderate,” Ortega said in an extensive message to Nicaraguans, declaring April 19 as a “Day of Peace.”
Although he did not say exactly what he was referring to, the dictator could have alluded to the 16-page letter that the Nicaraguan bishops sent him in 2014, in which they asked him to hold a “national dialogue” as well as work for a transparent electoral process. The prelates also reminded Ortega that “the years go by and no one is eternal,” which the dictator considered an “ultimatum.”
“Who has given that power to the Church? Who has given that power to the bishops, to remove and put governments? And the Vatican is aware of all this, and that is why they consented and encouraged it because there are currents in the Vatican as well,” Ortega said.
“There are currents that are totally so… with a soul full of poison. They have the devil in their hearts, they are the devil walking, and to top it off the devil with the cross, imagine, on his chest. What a sacrilege!” continued the dictator, who appeared with his wife and vice president, Rosario Murillo.
“It is a sin, a sacrilege, that these demons walk with the cross on their chest! And with that cross wanting to manipulate and wanting to bloody, and wanting to remove governments,” Ortega said.
It is not the first time that the dictator has attacked the Church, as he has done so on several occasions, such as in September 2021, when he accused the bishops of being “demons in cassocks”.
Félix Maradiaga, a former political prisoner and founder of the Foundation for Freedom, told EWTN News that what Ortega said demonstrates ” limitless cynicism .”