People and Church of Nicaragua - Case Study Example

People and Church of Nicaragua had huge expectations from Pope Paul II’s visit to the in 1983. When the people led regime became autocratic anddenied the common man its right to survive and prosper, the Marxist revolutionaries started fighting for the welfare of the people. The Church of the ‘poor’ also aligned with the Marxist revolutionaries and proactively supported their cause (Gutiérrez, 1973; Belli, 1988). The Pope’s visit was therefore highly significant for the Nicaragua Church as well as for the people because they saw it as intangible support and a means to convince the government for social reforms that would benefit the common man (Foroohar, 1989; Williams, 1985).

But unfortunately, Pope’s visit was a huge let down for Nicaragua’s people and the Church. The major objective of the visit of Pope John Paul II was to proclaim that Catholic Church did not support communists. The huge congregation assembled at the Plaza was hopeful that Pope would lend support to the people’s revolution and decry the mass carnage by government led death squad. But Pope’s silence on the issue was a big disillusion for the priests and public but later wrote a letter ‘denouncing Popular Church’(Dew, 1983:632).

He neither condoled the deaths of priests, nuns and innocent people nor made any effort to talk with Nicarguan priests so that could put their case personally. Despite people’s incessant chant, ‘Holy Father, we beg you for a prayer for our loved ones who have been murdered’, Pope was unmoved (Boyt, 1983). Pope’s agenda to his Nicaragua visit was politically inclined and defied wider human welfare. The priests’ fears came true and they along with people of Nicaragua became the innocent victims of oppressive regime that got the approval from the highest authority of Catholic Church, when Pope remained silent on the issue in his visit.

(words: 305)ReferenceBelli, Humberto (1988) ‘Liberation Theology and Latin American Revolutions’, in The Politics of Latin America and Liberation Theology. The Washington Institute Press: Washington DC, 199-222.Daw, Richard W. (1983) Threats to the Churchs Unity. Origins NCDocumentary Service, Washington DC, no.12 (March 17, 1983): 632.Foroohar, Manzar (1989) The Catholic Church and Social Change inNicaragua. SUNY Press: New York.Gutiérrez, Gustavo (1973) A Theology of Liberation. Orbis Books: Maryknoll,New York.

Hoyt, Catherine. The 1982 Visit of Pope John Paul II to Nicaragua. March 1983. Retrieved from: http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/47/030.htmlWilliams, Philip J. (1985) The Catholic Hierarchy in the NicaraguanRevolution. Journal of Latin American Studies 17(2): 341-369.