Friday, March 29, AD 2024 7:00am

PopeWatch: Bishop Silvio Jose Baez

Havana Times reports on the mysterious transfer of Auxiliary Bishop Silvio Jose Baez from Nicaragua to the Vatican:

 

The transfer of Nicaraguan Monsignor Silvio Jose Baez to Rome, by an express decision of Pope Francis, caused surprise and bewilderment among the priests of the Archdiocese of Managua, who were consulted by Confidential.

We are “shocked and surprised” by the Pontiff’s decision to remove him from the country, a priest told Confidencial. The priest explained that his colleagues expected other news: like the announcement of a new bishop of León, since the expiration in November of Monsignor Bosco Vivas two extra years that the pope authorized him to continue leading that diocese.

“At the level of the clergy, many priests agree on the theory that they took him for political reasons. Perhaps many of us are thinking maybe a little bad, but we came to the conclusion that the Government asked the Nuncio (Vatican representative) for that. We haven’t found another way to understand it,” said a member of the clergy who is close to the Episcopal Conference. “It is not confirmed information, but it is something that priests intuit.”

The priest said it “seems curious” that Pope Francis has decided to take Baez “in the context of the current [stalled] negotiations”, in which the Nuncio is one of the international mediators and witnesses.

“If the Pope wanted to remove Monsignor Silvio, he would have done so long ago. Because Monsignor has even been less vocal of late. It is very strange that it is in this context of negotiation. You know how diplomacy is handled. The truth is that we don’t know how to finish understanding this,” the priest said.

“How are they going to take Monsignor Silvio from us if he is an important reference of a pastor who is on the side of his people? We see ourselves reflected in his person,” lamented the priest.

Go here to read the rest.  The mainstream media is just reporting on the story now.  An outspoken critic of Leftist dictator Daniel Ortega, it is possible that the transfer is being done to protect the Bishop who has been subject to threats by the government.  It is also possible that the Pope is simply doing his usual bending over backwards to a Leftist regime.  PopeWatch considers the latter more likely but isn’t certain.

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Carmelite
Carmelite
Monday, April 29, AD 2019 9:56pm

Possessing privileged information on this subject, we will simply restate St. Teresa: “Patience obtains all things,” even simple answers to your questions will be revealed in a matter of hours. Why perpetuate worn out speculation?

TomD
TomD
Tuesday, April 30, AD 2019 6:31am

“It is also possible that the Pope is simply doing his usual bending over backwards to a Leftist regime.”

Not necessarily. The bishops of Venezuela have been even more outspoken against Leftists than those in Nicaragua. While Pope Francis has not acted in lockstep with the Venezuelan episcopacy, he made no personnel changes and even kept Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino in office as the Archbishop of Caracas for almost a full year after his age-mandated resignation.

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