March 18, 2023 / 9:38 a.m.
The Holy See reported this Saturday that the charge d’affaires of the Apostolic Nunciature in Nicaragua, Monsignor Marcel Diouf, left the Central American country yesterday, thus closing the diplomatic headquarters at the request of the Daniel Ortega regime.
“Yesterday, March 17, the charge d’affaires, ai, of the Apostolic Nunciature in Nicaragua, Monsignor Marcel Diouf, left the country and moved to Costa Rica. The closure of the diplomatic headquarters of the Holy See occurred as a result of a request from the Nicaraguan government on March 10, 2023,” Vatican News said on Saturday.
The Vatican news outlet indicated that “by virtue of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, custody of the Apostolic Nunciature and its assets was entrusted to the Italian Republic.”
“Before his departure, Bishop Diouf was greeted by diplomatic representatives accredited in Nicaragua from the European Union, Germany, France and Italy,” he added.
Representatives of the Delegation of the European Union and the embassies of Germany, France and Italy in Nicaragua visited the Vatican Chargé d’Affaires in Managua, Monsignor Marcel Diouf, before his departure from the country. pic.twitter.com/lpSb6n3ccG
— EU in Nicaragua (@UEenNicaragua) March 17, 2023
Bishop Diouf was the last Vatican official in Nicaragua and assumed the role of business manager after the government of Daniel Ortega expelled the Apostolic Nuncio, Bishop Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag, in March 2022.
On March 12, the Nicaraguan Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that it was considering suspending diplomatic relations with the Vatican.
This occurred two days after an interview with Pope Francis was published, in which he harshly criticized the Daniel Ortega regime – where the Catholic Church is persecuted – and compared it to “the communist dictatorship of 1917 or the Hitlerite dictatorship of 35 ”.
In addition, he referred to the Bishop of Matagalpa, Bishop Rolando Álvarez, who was sentenced to 26 years in prison for his opinions against the regime. “A very serious man, very capable. He wanted to give his testimony and did not accept exile, ”said the Holy Father.
Likewise, in reference to Daniel Ortega, the Pope pointed out that, “with great respect, I have no choice but to think of an imbalance in the person who leads” Nicaragua.
