The parishioners lived the beginning of the Holy Week celebrations inside their temples, after the prohibitions of the regime and the war that it maintains against the Church; and their priests.
Moments that are lived in the blessing of palms in the atrium of the Cathedral of Saint Peter the Apostle prior to the Holy Eucharist./ Taken from Diocese Media: Cathedral of Saint Peter the Apostle, Matagalpa.
This Palm Sunday, when Jesus of Triumph is celebrated walking the streets of Nicaragua, riding his donkey and in which the blessed palms are distributed to shape the cross, the parishioners lived the festival differently, this time inside their temples , after the prohibitions of the regime and the attacks that it maintains towards the Catholic Church and its priests.
Despite the siege and repression, Catholics do not lose faith and attended as every Sunday to receive communion and live the beginning of Holy Week under the cry: Hosanna in heaven!
In many temples and different cathedrals, such as the Cathedral of San Pedro Apóstol, prior to the Holy Eucharist, the parishioners experienced the blessing of palms in the atrium of the church and in unison sang: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” .
Meanwhile, the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Managua, Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes, sprinkled holy water on the palms on the grounds of the Managua Cathedral, distributed them among those present, and announced that the blessing ceremony would take place when they entered the cathedral. where the mass was celebrated.
At the end of the Eucharist, he announced that the traditional penance Stations of the Cross on Good Friday, which each year brings together thousands of promisees, will also be held on the cathedral grounds.
The carpet that brought together the Nicaraguan community and which is dedicated to Monsignor Rolando Álvarez
no grand entrance
Without the traditional route of the donkey carrying the image of Jesus of Triumph, this Sunday the celebrations of Holy Week began in the churches of the country, under the “intramural” modality.
How it was lived in the Cathedral of Matagalpa, a diocese presided over by Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, a political prisoner of the dictatorship since August 2022 and which was besieged by the Ortega guard, according to complaints from some parishioners and images that circulated.
The same thing happened in the Cathedral of Jinotega, where the bishop of that diocese, Monsignor Carlos Herrera, presided over the celebration.
Monsignor René Sándigo, bishop of the diocese of León, performed the blessing of the palms inside the cathedral of that city.
to keep tradition
Holy Week remembers the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus in which the Catholic Church overflows to celebrate the “King of Kings”.
As a way of maintaining the tradition of this activity, the Nuestra Señora de la Asunción parish in Masaya, made a tour around the church.
The parish of Nuestra Señora del Pilar in Chinandega celebrated the blessing in the church grounds and a donkey carried the image of Jesus of Triumph.
The Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh) denounced through its social networks that the prohibition of Lent and Holy Week processions in Nicaragua are a violation of freedom of conscience, religion and freedom of expression.
📢🇳🇮This is how the Ortega Murillo regime “celebrates” Holy Week in #Nicaragua #SOSIglesiaNi #LibertadParaLosSacerdotesPresos#MonsignorÁlvarezEsInocente pic.twitter.com/RI81IPngrv
— Cenidh (@cenidh) April 1, 2023
