The Archbishop of Miami (United States), Monsignor Thomas Wenski, announced that they are ready to receive the priests and seminarians who were exiled by the dictatorship in Nicaragua, offering them long-term accommodation in his seminary.
The Prelate explained to the Florida Catholic newspaper that although they will initially be welcomed by Nicaraguan families living in the country, later they will go permanently to the St. John Vianney University Seminary in Miami.
“I offer you the hospitality of the seminary, as well as the opportunity to acclimatize, acculturate and see what the next steps would be after that,” he told the Catholic media on 11 February.
Likewise, Bishop Wenski indicated that the priests will be able to take “intensive English classes” while they carry out their immigration procedures.
The Archbishop of Miami assured that, although he would like everyone to remain in his jurisdiction, he has “heard from some bishops that they need Spanish-speaking priests” and “that they will be happy to help them.”
The priests and seminarians arrived in Washington DC, the US capital, on Sunday, February 12, after being exiled by Nicaraguan dictator Daniel Ortega, who accused them of treason and suspended their citizenship rights in perpetuity.
They were part of the group of 222 political prisoners deported three days earlier by the regime of Daniel Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo.