Catholic Archbishop Wenski, of Miami Offers to House Exiled Priests and Seminarians from Nicaragua in the Seminary
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Archbishop Thomas Wenski, head of the archdiocese of Miami, Florida, has offered to house exiled Nicaraguan priests, and seminarians. He spoke to the Florida Catholic on February 11, 2023, about the expected arrival in Miami of some of the political prisoners released by the Nicaraguan government and flown to the U.S.
In this Twitter photo above, Archbishop Thomas Wenski poses in his office with Managua Auxiliary Bishop Silvio Baez, who visited April 26, 2019, after being forced to leave Nicaragua due to his outspoken support of those protesting Daniel Ortega's regime.
“Most of the people expelled were politicians or candidates for public office that [Daniel] Ortega locked up before the elections,” the archbishop said, but among them were “four or five priests, a couple of seminarians, a deacon and an organist.”
Although they would be taken in at first by Nicaraguan families, Archbishop Wenski said he offered the priests and seminarians longer term housing at St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami.
“I’m offering them the hospitality of the seminary as well as the opportunity to get acclimated, acculturated and see what the next steps would be after that,” he said. At the seminary they could take “intensive English classes” while finalizing their immigration paperwork.
Although the expectation is that many of the priests and seminarians would stay in Miami, “I’ve already heard from a few bishops who need Spanish-speaking priests who would be happy to help them out,” Archbishop Wenski said.
He added that Catholic Charities and Catholic Legal Services of the Archdiocese of Miami were standing by to provide aid and help the exiles with their immigration paperwork.
The Nicaraguans arrived from Washington, D.C., on Sunday, Feb. 12, and took part in the 1 p.m. Mass normally celebrated at St. Agatha Church by exiled Nicaraguan Bishop Silvio José Baez, auxiliary bishop of Managua.
Bishop Baez was forced to leave Nicaragua in 2019 after receiving death threats for his criticism of Ortega’s government. He now teaches Scripture at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach but celebrates that weekly Mass at St. Agatha which is livestreamed via Facebook to Nicaragua.
Edited from an article by Ana Rodriguez Soto in the Florida Catholic newspaper as released by the Archdiocese of Miami
Although they would be taken in at first by Nicaraguan families, Archbishop Wenski said he offered the priests and seminarians longer term housing at St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami.
“I’m offering them the hospitality of the seminary as well as the opportunity to get acclimated, acculturated and see what the next steps would be after that,” he said. At the seminary they could take “intensive English classes” while finalizing their immigration paperwork.
Although the expectation is that many of the priests and seminarians would stay in Miami, “I’ve already heard from a few bishops who need Spanish-speaking priests who would be happy to help them out,” Archbishop Wenski said.
He added that Catholic Charities and Catholic Legal Services of the Archdiocese of Miami were standing by to provide aid and help the exiles with their immigration paperwork.
The Nicaraguans arrived from Washington, D.C., on Sunday, Feb. 12, and took part in the 1 p.m. Mass normally celebrated at St. Agatha Church by exiled Nicaraguan Bishop Silvio José Baez, auxiliary bishop of Managua.
Bishop Baez was forced to leave Nicaragua in 2019 after receiving death threats for his criticism of Ortega’s government. He now teaches Scripture at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach but celebrates that weekly Mass at St. Agatha which is livestreamed via Facebook to Nicaragua.
Edited from an article by Ana Rodriguez Soto in the Florida Catholic newspaper as released by the Archdiocese of Miami
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