Cardinal Escorts 2 Priests to Managua
Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo, saying that “deeds and not words” must prove the Sandinista government’s sincerity, escorted two exiled priests back to Nicaragua on Saturday.
One of the priests was Father Bismarck Carballo, who was stranded in the United States 14 months ago when the Nicaraguan government canceled his return visa after Congress voted $100 million in aid to the Nicaraguan contras.
Last month, after signing the Central American peace plan, the Sandinistas invited Carballo, Italian priest Benito Pitito and other exiled clerics to return.
Obando y Bravo and the two priests had booked seats on a Saturday flight to Managua.
“Permitting them back in . . . was a measure that could create a climate of peace and less tension with the church,” said Obando y Bravo, archbishop of Managua and a longtime critic of the Sandinista government’s human rights record.
Obando y Bravo was appointed to serve on a commission that will oversee Nicaragua’s compliance with the accord, signed Aug. 7 by five Central American presidents. The cardinal was in Miami for the visit of Pope John Paul II.
He said he was hopeful but cautious about the Sandinistas’ intentions.
“We will have to see--what counts is deeds and not words,” Obando y Bravo said.
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