Pope Francis prayed Sunday for a renewed hope for the people of Nicaragua, where the Catholic Church is experiencing harsh persecution under the regime of President Daniel Ortega.

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Editorial Staff (08/25/2024 10:30, Gaudium Press) “To the beloved people of Nicaragua: I encourage you to renew your hope in Jesus. Remember that the Holy Spirit always guides history toward higher designs,” Pope Francis said at the end of this Angelus address on Aug. 25.

The pope entrusted Nicaragua to the protection and intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

“May the Immaculate Virgin protect you in times of trial and make you feel her maternal tenderness,” he said. “May Our Lady accompany the beloved people of Nicaragua.”

Persecution of the Church in Nicaragua has intensified in recent years. The government has expelled nuns, taken over ecclesiastical institutions, seized Church assets, shut down Catholic media outlets, and sent priests and bishops to prison or into exile.

The pope’s prayer comes just days after the Ortega dictatorship cancelled the legal status of 1,500 nonprofit organizations, including hundreds of Catholic organizations, and exiled two more priests to Rome.

According to the newspaper Mosaico, Father Denis Martínez García and Father Leonel Balmaceda from the Dioceses of Matagalpa and Estelí, respectively, were arrested earlier this month and then expelled by the government to Rome.

Both priests come from dioceses that are administered by the formerly imprisoned Bishop Rolando Álvarez, who was exiled to Rome in January.

In his Angelus address, the pope reflected on Saint Peter’s words to Jesus recorded in the Gospel of John, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).

Pope Francis pointed out that the disciples did not always understand what Jesus said and did, but even when it was not easy for them to understand, they remained faithful because they had experienced that Jesus was “the answer to the thirst for life, the thirst for joy, and the thirst for love.”

“Brothers and sisters … For us, too, it is not easy to follow the Lord, to understand his way of acting, to make his criteria and his examples our own,” he said.

“However, the more we stay close to him — the more we adhere to his Gospel, receive his grace in the Sacraments, stay in his company in prayer, imitate him in humility and charity — the more we experience the beauty of having him as a friend, and we realize that only he has ‘the words of eternal life,’” Pope Francis said.

After praying the Angelus prayer in Latin with the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square, the pope offered prayers for people suffering from war, particularly in Ukraine and the Holy Land, and for people experiencing health challenges.

Pope Francis expressed his solidarity in particular with the thousands of people affected by mpox, also called monkeypox, a disease rapidly spreading in parts of Africa that has been declared a global health emergency.

“I pray for all those infected, especially the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo who are so tried,” he said. “I express my sympathy to the local churches in the countries most affected by this disease and encourage governments and private industries to share available technology and treatments so that no one lacks adequate medical care.”

The pope offered greetings to young people with physical and mental disabilities who are currently participating in the “Relay for Inclusion” in Italy.

Pope Francis also greeted new seminarians from the North American College present in St. Peter’s Square, encouraging them to live their vocations with joy “because true prayer gives us joy.”

“May Mary, who welcomed Jesus, the Word of God … help us to listen to him and never abandon him,” the pope prayed.

• Raju Hasmukh with files from CNA