(ANS – Managua, Nicaragua – June 4) - The Salesians of Nicaragua have communicated to the Salesian Family
that Salesian Miguel Obando y Bravo, archbishop emeritus of Managua and senior
Salesian cardinal, passed away on Sunday, June 3, at 3:48 a.m.
According to a report in The New
York Times, the cause was a heart attack.
Cardinal Obando, 92, was an emblematic figure of
the Catholic Church, a man who distinguished himself for his role as a mediator
in the acute military and political conflicts experienced by the Central
American country. A person’s political situation does not always play a
preponderant role in taking a position for or against someone, certainly, and
yet this could be the case with Cardinal Obando. But his work and actions in
favor of the people speak volumes about his person and his life.
Cardinal Obando lived through an exceptionally
difficult period in the history of Nicaragua, with contradictory currents. “He
fought the regime of Anastasio Somoza with a rigor that nobody denies him,”
wrote D. Urtasun of him. “And he did it because, in his own words, ‘Evil
must be challenged, fought, and defeated.’ [Nicaraguan dictator] Somoza ended
up calling him ‘Commander Miguel.’ With the same courage, he faced the
Sandinista commanders, surrounded by a believing people, who followed this
shepherd, waving the banner of Christ.”
“Many support him unconditionally and show their
appreciation with respect and gratitude,” continues Urtasun. “In the person of
the cardinal they see a father, a guide, the good shepherd. Others, fewer, look
at him with disdain and mistrust, because Obando is inconvenient to them,
because he represents a critical awareness of the excesses of the government. His
prolonged position of fostering the reconciliation of his people led him to act
as a mediator on several occasions....”
The Salesian cardinal was proclaimed “An Eminence
of Peace and Reconciliation” for Nicaragua by the National Assembly in 2016.
Miguel Obando y Bravo was born to a peasant family on
February 2, 1926, in La Libertad, Chontales province, in the center of the
country. After completing his studies in the Salesian Congregation, he was
ordained on August 10, 1958. He was named bishop on March 31, 1968; in February
1970, he became archbishop of Managua and on May 25, 1985, was made cardinal by
Pope John Paul II. His became archbishop emeritus in 2005.
With Cardinal Obando’s passing, the Salesians have
eight living cardinals: four retired from their responsibilities (Amato,
Bertone, Farina, Zen) and four active (Bo, Ezzati, Rodriguez, and Sturla).
Cardinal Rodriguez, elevated by St. John Paul II in 2001, is now the senior.
See Catholic News Service's obituary:
See Catholic News Service's obituary:
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