in the four dioceses <\/a>whose bishops are absent because they were forced into exile: Matagalpa, Estel\u00ed, Siuna, and Jinotega. The chrism Mass, during which the oil, or chrism, to be used in the sacraments is blessed, was also not celebrated in those dioceses.<\/p>\nIn his homily, Wenski encouraged the faithful to prepare for the \u201cPaschal Triduum, the commemoration of the passion, death, and resurrection of Our Lord,\u201d reminding them that \u201cwe cannot look upon the crucified Christ without looking at those being crucified before our very eyes and seeing him in them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt struck me as a very prophetic homily,\u201d said Father Edwing Rom\u00e1n, a Nicaraguan priest in exile who now serves as vicar of St. Agatha Parish in Miami, told ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs an exiled Nicaraguan priest, I value and appreciate that a pastor of his stature during such a significant celebration as the chrism Mass in the very midst of Holy Week included our people who are suffering and yearning for their freedom, as well as our persecuted Church,\u201d the priest said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you, Archbishop Wenski, for your prophetic defense and for demonstrating once again your closeness to Nicaragua. Your archdiocese has served as a refuge for us and for Bishop Silvio B\u00e1ez,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Joining Wenski at the chrism Mass was the auxiliary bishop of Managua, B\u00e1ez, who went into exile from Nicaragua in 2019 and whose position was confirmed in August 2025 when he was received at the Vatican by Pope Leo XIV. The prelate celebrates Mass and ministers to the community at St. Agatha in Miami.<\/p>\n
Rom\u00e1n told ACI Prensa that in total four exiled priests participated in the chrism Mass including himself and Father Marcos Somarriba, a parish priest at St. Agatha, along with six other priests who arrived in the United States as children or young adults and a deacon who will soon be ordained a priest, all of Nicaraguan origin.<\/p>\n
Dearth of religious freedom in Nicaragua<\/h2>\n
Also on March 31, Landau denounced the Nicaraguan dictatorship\u2019s stifling of religious freedom in the country.<\/p>\n
He noted that \u201cNicaragua has historically hosted some of the most beautiful and famous processions in the region (for example in Granada and Leon) and I look forward to the day when our Nicaraguan friends reclaim their religious freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n