Christmas in Managua

Father Fernando Cardenal with Rick (Photo by Trish Feaster)

For Christmas Eve, I gathered with local worshipers in the humble chapel of Nicaragua’s University of Central America under hard-working fans for Mass. As the band set up and the local congregation gathered, a Downs Syndrome child picked up the mic and entertained all with a hearty Santa-like ho ho ho. That unscripted moment kicked things off with a wonderfully human reminder that people around the world are coming together.

A lanky elderly priest was greeted warmly by the congregation. He was Fernando Cardenal, one of the Sandinista priests John Paul II famously wagged his finger at during a visit to Nicaragua back in 1983 for politicizing the church. Cardenal’s trouble-making message was a Liberation Theology message ‘ that Christians are to be more than charitable. They are to ask why there is poverty and to organize to work for economic justice and dignity in the face of hunger and suffering.

The chapel was filled. It was a bring-your-own-maracas crowd, and with each song the place filled with the happy sound of these shakers. The Lord’s Prayer was sung to the tune of “Sound of Silence.” Before the offering plate was passed, a woman stepped out from her pew to remind everyone that Father Cardenal lives very modestly and to assure all that the offering would go to support the church’s work with the local poor.

My favorite thing about a Central American Mass is the fiesta-like “passing of the peace.” Every time I’m in an American church and that moment in the service comes and people solemnly shake hands, I miss the uproar that breaks out at that moment in Latin America. With mariachi energy the band plays while all attending burst into a rollicking commotion of hugging and exchange of blessings. It just goes on and on. Father Cardenal gave me the warmest of hugs. Knowing of this man’s life work as a Christian revolutionary in Central America ‘ and now holding his frail bag of bones body to mine ‘ touched me in a way that caused me to cry. I don’t know why, but it was an emotional highlight of my trip so far.

While that old Sandinista spirit is a little hard to find these days in Nicaragua, Jesus’ “preferential option for the poor” was woven into the sermon, and the Christmas Mass finished with a rousing Liberation Theology carol. People sang “Merry Christmas, justice and liberty. Merry Christmas, a better world without misery and oppression” (Feliz Navidad, Feliz Navidad, en justicia y libertad. Feliz Navidad, Feliz Navidad, un mundo mejor sin miseria ni opresion). As the song progressed through many verses, the congregation lined up to kiss the baby Jesus in Father Cardenal’s arms. The much-kissed baby Jesus was placed into the, until now, empty manger. And the worshipers dispersed into a city soon to be engulfed in a cacophony of firecrackers.

Comments

26 Replies to “Christmas in Managua”

  1. Perhaps the teary moment slipped up on you, by inadvertently missing your family, who apparently are not with you on this trip? I am happy you had the extended church family to celebrate the second most wondrous event in the Church year. Have a wonderful trip!

  2. Masses can be joyous, solemn, funny, musical, boring depending upon the country, parishioners, season, priest or celebration

  3. Mr. Steves: This Associated Press article on the very successful drug policy reform in Portugal would probably be worth you commenting on in this blog, on your radio show, in a tv episode on Portugal, and in your activist activities: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101226/ap_on_he_me/eu_failed_drug_war_solutions “here`s what Portugal did: It changed the law so that users are sent to counseling and sometimes treatment instead of criminal courts and prison. The switch from drugs as a criminal issue to a public health one was aimed at preventing users from going underground. Other European countries treat drugs as a public health problem, too, but Portugal stands out as the only one that has written that approach into law. The result: More people tried drugs, but fewer ended up addicted. Here`s what happened between 2000 and 2008: • There were small increases in illicit drug use among adults, but decreases for adolescents and problem users such as drug addicts and prisoners. • Drug-related court cases dropped 66 percent. • Drug-related HIV cases dropped 75 percent. In 2002, 49 percent of people with AIDS were addicts; by 2008 that number fell to 28 percent. • The number of regular users held steady at less than 3 percent of the population for marijuana and less than 0.3 percent for heroin and cocaine [INVALID] figures that show decriminalization brought no surge in drug use. • The number of people treated for drug addiction rose 20 percent from 2001 to 2008.

  4. The late, great Pope John Paul II wagged his finger, and rightly so. There is nothing Catholic, nor Christian about Marxist priests who aid in fomenting revolutions aligning the populace with dictators. I wonder, Rick, if you shed any tears for those innocents tortured or killed while living under these Marxist, communist dictatorships. Merry Christmas.

  5. Father Cardenal was part of the murderers who ruled Nicaragua behind the corrupt Sandinistas. Maybe he has repented from his “sins”, but he “ain`t no saint”. The Somosa regime was awful and bloody, the Sandinistas who followed were just the same, they just wore uniforms of a different color and answered to a different master, Satancastro himself.

  6. Glad to see the 1980`s are still alive and well and living on Rick`s message board. Since then communism has been swept (more-or-less) into the dust bin of history and capitalism has (more or less) lurched from one self-inflicted crisis to the next. Meanwhile poverty, corruption, environmental degradation, greed, tribalism and ideological name calling continue on without missing a beat. Dare I ask if there are any new ideas out there?

  7. Not surprised to hear there are still those who blame capitalism for every failure of society, yet refuse to acknowledge that wealth formation has improved the lives of millions of people. I also dare ask if there is any original idea out there that does smack of redistribution of someone else`s wealth as a cure-all?

  8. You just have to laugh when Rick expresses his longing for “that old Sandinista spirit”. It may have been a military dictatorship, but at least it was a Socialist military dictatorship, right Rick? The self-loathing of successful baby boomer capitalists (like Mr. Steves) is really kind of sad. I just wish they would find their peace through counselling rather than through raising my taxes. Its ok to be a successfull capitalist, Rick, really.

  9. I tend only to worry about those who offer only “one size fits all” solutions. To a hammer every problem looks like a nail. It`s like trying to steer a ship when the rudder is only allowed to be moved one way.

  10. There`s nothing worse then a guilt-ridden liberal who has made their own millions through capitalism and then sits on a soapbox and tries to curtail the same economic freedoms for others that they themselves reaped. It`s easy to decry the wealth of this country while you sit on your own private hoard and lecture others on their greed.

  11. Thanks, Rick, for reminding us of the poverty of Nicaragua, made unnecessarily deep by the Reagan blockade called illegal by the International Court and the US backed Contra War. World response to the devastating earthquake of 1971 that could have kick-started an economic revolution was stockpiled and plundered by the Somosa regime. When his regime was overthrown in 1979, the US backed (and funded) the Contra War; and the US embargo, set up under Raegan`s orders in the face of opposition by the Hague Court, effectively starved Managua and the whole of Nicaragua for many years. Only after Ortega was voted out of office did economic reconstruction in Managua and Nicaragua start taking place. Most times political idelogy gets in the way of the ability of people to help each other in charity. Sad that Father Cardenal now is castigated for trying to put the people`s plight ahead of ideeology. Remember that it was in the crash an earthquake relief aid flight to Managua in 1972 that Roberto Clemente died. He was accompanying the flight personnally to ensure the aid reached the people. Yes, there is probably enough blame to go around on both sides. But now it is Chrstmas, and it is time to remember what is real in the world, people loving people. My hat`s off to you, Rick May you continue to be blessed by Christmas Don M

  12. Yep, America screwed it up again. We destroyed Nicaragua. Reparations!!! Since we`re so far in debt, I say we start giving States in lieu of payment. Nicaragua can have Arizona. Haiti gets Florida. Iraq gets California and so on and so on.

  13. Exactly get rid of all Republicans and the Tea Partiers too. China holds our debt anyways so I say we hand over the US to them. Why waste no one likes America anyways. Now we can route all issues through Beijing YAY!!! Long Live Democrats!!!

  14. @Nels: No…What pushed us so far into debt was TRILLIONS of dollars of new spending enacted by Obama and the Democrat controlled Congress. And the Democrats controlled Congress for PLENTY of years under Bush. Your implication that Bush and the Republicans were in control 100% of the time might work down there at ACORN headquarters, but it doesn`t work for average Americans who spoke at the ballot box this past November. Hey Nels, be careful…Your bias is showing.

  15. Let`s just see what the Democratic control of both chambers of Congress has accomplished from 2007 – 2010 as compared to the Republican control from 2003 – 2006: Average Budget Deficit: D: $1.143 trillion v. R: $285 billion (even includes the support of those damn wars in Iraq and Afghanistan) Average jobs by year: D: minus 1,583,000; R: plus 1,672,000 Unemployment rate: D: almost 10% now but averaged 7.48. R: 5.3% FDIC bank closures: D: 79.2. R:1.75 DOW: D: .13% R: 11.04% And when you consider the fact that a Democratic controlled Congress caused the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac imposion of the housing market which led to the current economic conditions in this country, well, Nels, all I can say is, don`t let the facts hit you too hard in your brainwashed head.

  16. http://www.treasury.gov/about/budget-performance/budget-in-brief/Documents/BPD%20CJ%20508.pdf Want a link? Here`s one as I was trying to find the deficit numbers on the US treasury site (good luck). pg. 9 item 22 Transportation of “things” item 25.2 Other Services $26,401 are you kidding me Things and Other Services. What is that? That`s a lot of money for “Other Services.” Now here`s the thing, I guarantee this happens with both parties, it`s not just a democrat of republican thing. If anyone of us spend 26k on “Other Services” we would have to answer to someone no doubt. Politicians PERIOD need to be held accountable.

  17. Secretly, though, I love Obama. Despite what I said earlier, he is the right man for the job.

  18. And this story from RS started out as how he understands how people of the world can come together. And a few days later deteriorates into another polemic about U.S politics.

  19. Thank you Rick for another wonderful post. I also agree with w in that it`s sad to see comments so often miss the point of the original blog entry. Here`s to a peaceful 2011.

Comments are closed.