¹ Concientizar is to raise social consciousness.

² See especially Phillip, Berryman, The Religious Roots of Rebellion: Christians in Central American Revolutions (London, 1984),Google Scholar Chs. 4 and 8; Michael, Dodson and Tommie, Sue Montgomery, ‘Churches in the Nicaraguan Revolution’, in Thomas, Walker, ed., Nicaragua in Revolution (New York, 1982);Google Scholar and Pablo, Richard and Guillermo, Meléndez, La Iglesia de los Pobres en América Central, (San José, 1982).Google Scholar

³ During the colonial period the purpose behind the concentration of the indigenous population in nucleated settlements was twofold: firstly, to aid encomenderos in the extraction of tithes and labour from the Indians, and secondly, to facilitate the Church in its religious conversion of the Indians.

⁴ Booth, John A., The End and the Beginning: The Nicaraguan Revolution (Boulder, 1982), p. 13.Google Scholar

⁵ ibid., p. 12.

⁶ The national right of presentation gave the government the power to nominate ecclesiastical authorities.

⁷ Mecham, J. Lloyd, Church and State in Latin America (Chapel Hill, 1966), pp. 329–31.Google Scholar

⁸ Jorge, Eduardo Arellano, Breve Historia de la Iglesia en Nicaragua (1523–1979) (Managua, 1979), 57–70.Google Scholar

⁹ Revista de la Academia de Geografia e Historia, No. 39 (Managua, 01–06 1971), pp. 62–8.Google Scholar

¹⁰ Gregorio, Selser, Sandino, (New York, 1981), p. 105.Google Scholar

¹¹ ibid., p. 122.

¹² See Jean, Meyer, The Cristero Rebellion: The Mexican People Between Church and State 1926–1929 (Cambridge, 1976).Google Scholar

¹³ Foreign Relations of the United States, Department of State, vol. III (Washington D.C., 1928), p. 567.Google Scholar

¹⁴ Arellano, , op. cit., pp. 84–5.Google Scholar

¹⁵ Richard, and Meléndez, , op. cit., pp. 144–5.Google Scholar

¹⁶ Frederick, Pike, ‘The Catholic Church in Central America’, in Review of Politics, vol. 21, No. 1 (01 1959), pp. 95–6Google Scholar and Mecham, , op. cit., pp. 329–31.Google Scholar

¹⁷ Booth, , op. cit., p. 62.Google Scholar

¹⁸ Arellano, , op. cit., pp. 82–3.Google Scholar

¹⁹ Richard, and Meléndez, , op. cit., p. 145.Google Scholar

²⁰ A Dominican priest in Leon, Luis Suárez, described in a letter dated 23.1.61 to Luis Somoza his struggle to combat communism in the University of León. He organized some 80 Catholic students to infiltrate communist groups at the university, and he himself spoke to parents of communist students, convincing them to send their children abroad. In this way, he succeeded in stamping out leftist ideas, supplanting them with ‘catholic inspired social doctrine’. He concluded the letter saying, ‘today no one is sympathizing with Fidel.’ See Archivo Nacional de Nicaragua, Secretaría de la Presidencia, Serie, B, Caja, no. 40 (29) Clero, 1961.Google Scholar

²¹ Interview with Mons. Bismark, Carballo, 3 08 1983,Google Scholar Managua; interview with Luis Cesar, Núñez, 27 07 1983, Managua.Google Scholar

²² It is not inconsequential that the new Archbishop of Managua in 1970 served as the outspoken Mons. Calderón y Padilla's auxiliary bishop in Matagalpa.

²³ Looking through various years of correspondence between the Somoza governments and clergy, one can find numerous instances of priests and bishops being granted pesonal ‘favours’. These ranged from free airline passes for travel abroad, to gifts of automobiles, to outright cash advancements. In May 1965, for example, the Archbishop Mons. González y Robleto was sent a ‘special contribution’ of $1500.00 towards his expenses while he was in New York for a week to have an eye operation. Of course, his airfare had already been covered. See Archivo Nacional de Nicaragua, Secretaría de la Presidencia, Serie B, Caja no. 7 (33a) Clero, 1965.

²⁴ In this sense, then, it was a defensive response on the part of the Church which led it to promote social change. For many it was either that or communism.

²⁵ Renato, Poblete SJ, ‘From Medellín to Puebla’, in Daniel, Levine, ed., Churches and Politics in Latin America (Beverly Hills, 1980), p. 45.Google Scholar

²⁶ ibid.

²⁷ Concientización is a Latin American concept without a literal translation. The nearest translation would be ‘consciousness raising’ or a lifting of social awareness.

²⁸ Consejo, Episcopal Latinoamericano (CELAM), ‘La lglesia en la Actual Transformación de América Latina a la Luz del Concilio’, Conclusiones (Bogotá, 1968), pp. 58–61, 70–1, 93–5, 161–4, 208–10.Google Scholar

²⁹ Promoción humana refers to assisting the poor and oppressed in recognizing their own self-dignity and worth as a necessary precondition in the process of evangelization.

³⁰ Comunidades eclesiales de base are small groups of people from the same barrio who gather to discuss daily problems in the light of the Bible. Included under this heading are groups for Bible study, catechism, pre-confirmation, and pre-marriage counseling.

³¹ Departamento Ecuménico de investigaciones (DEI), ‘Apuntes para una Teología Nicaragüense’ (San José, 1981), p. 42.Google Scholar

³² Robert, Pring-Mill, ‘Profile: Ernesto Cardenal’, in Index on Censorship, vol. 8, no. 3 (05–06 1979), p. 50.Google Scholar

³³ Booth, , op. cit., pp. 77–80.Google Scholar

³⁴ Primer Encuentro Pastoral en Managua, ‘De Cara al Futuro de la Iglesia en Nicaragua’, Documentos (Managua, , 1969), pp. 38–9, 100–22.Google Scholar

³⁵ Booth, , op. cit., p. 73.Google Scholar

³⁶ La Prensa, 8 05 1971.Google Scholar

³⁷ La Prensa, 26 03 1971.Google Scholar

³⁸ La Prensa, 19 11 1971.Google Scholar

³⁹ The Episcopal Conference includes all the bishops of Nicaragua, who meet several times in the year to discuss national pastoral strategy and to draft pastoral letters and communiqués. The bishops elect a president and secretary every two to four years.

⁴⁰ Conferencia Episcopal de Nicaragua (CEN), ‘Sobre el Deber del Testimonio y de la Acció Cristiana en el Orden Politico’ (Managua, 29.6.71).

⁴¹ CEN, ‘Sobre los Principios que Rigen la Actividad Politica de Toda la Iglesia Como Tal’ (Managua, 19.3.72), p. 11.

⁴² La Prensa, 6 04 1972.Google Scholar

⁴³ La Prensa, 15 04 1972, 19 04 1972.Google Scholar

⁴⁴ Booth, , op. cit., p. 81.Google Scholar

⁴⁵ La Prensa, 22 12 1973.Google Scholar

⁴⁶ Dodson, and Montgomery, , op. cit., p. 168.Google Scholar

⁴⁷ CEN, ‘Declaración de La Conferencia Episcopal de Nicaragua Reunida en Sesión Extraordinaria’ (Managua, 27.5.74); CEN, ‘El Hombre, la Iglesia y la Socicdad’, (Granada, 6.8.74).

⁴⁸ In fact, the timing of the August 1974 pastoral clearly demonstrated that the bishops' position already resembled that of moderate opposition groups. In late June, twenty- seven opposition leaders had issued a statement concerning the upcoming elections entitled, ‘No hay quien por votar’ (There's no one to vote for). The day after the August pastoral was published, the bishops met with the opposition leaders to discuss the problem of Somoza's re-election, an indirect endorsement of their position. See Berryman, , op. cit., pp. 68–9 On this point.Google Scholar

⁴⁹ Alejandro, Bendaña, ‘Crisis in Nicaragua’, NACLA Report on the Americas (11–12 1978), pp. 13–14.Google Scholar

⁵⁰ The FSLN, founded in 1961 and inspired by the nationalist hero Augusto C. Sandino, was dedicated to a programme of social revolution. During the 1960s most of its efforts were concentrated in northern rural areas.

⁵¹ UDEL was composed of the Nicaraguan Socialist Party (PSN), a faction of the Social Christian Party (PSCN), labour groupings (CGT and CTN), Conservatives, and the Independent Liberal Party (PLI).

⁵² Bendaña, , op. cit, p. 15.Google Scholar

⁵³ See Amnesty International Report on Nicaragua for 1977.

⁵⁴ CEN, ‘Mensaje de la Conferencia Episcopal de Nicaragua Renovando la Esperanza Cristiana al iniciarse el Año 1917’ (Managua, 8.1.77).

⁵⁵ DrAmando, López and DrArrién, Juan B., ‘El Papel de la Iglesia en la Coyuntura Nacional’, Encuentro, no. 14 (07–12 1978), p. 133.Google Scholar

⁵⁶ Bendaña, , op. cit., p. 23.Google Scholar

⁵⁷ ‘Los Doce’included several respected professionals and two priests, Fernando Cardenal SJ and Miguel D'Escoto.

⁵⁸ Servicio de Información y Documentación (SID) (11–12 1977), p. 6.Google Scholar

⁵⁹ La Prensa, 23 10 1977.Google Scholar

⁶⁰ La Prensa, 26 10 1977.Google Scholar

⁶¹ La Prensa, 25 11 1977.Google Scholar

⁶² Booth, , op. cit., p. 155.Google Scholar

⁶³ La Prensa, 17 01 1978.Google Scholar

⁶⁴ La Prensa, 9 02 1978.Google Scholar

⁶⁵ CEN, ‘Mensaje al Pueblo de Dios al Iniciarse el Año 1978’ (Managua, 6.1.78).

⁶⁶ Booth, , op. cit., p. 160.Google Scholar

⁶⁷ CEN, ‘Conferencia Episcopal de Nicaragua a los Hombres de Buena Voluntad’, in Encuentro, no. 14 (07–12 1978), p. 109.Google Scholar

⁶⁸ ibid., pp. 108–11.

⁶⁹ Encuentro, no. 14 (07–12 1978), PP. 112–14.Google Scholar

⁷⁰ George, Black, Triumph of the People: The Sandinist Revolution in Nicaragua (London, 1981), p. 319.Google Scholar

⁷¹ La Prensa, 29 09 1978.Google Scholar

⁷² Booth, , op. cit., pp. 165–6.Google Scholar

⁷³ ibid., p. 166.

⁷⁴ La Prensa, 29 11 1978.Google Scholar

⁷⁵ La Prensa, 23 11 1978.Google Scholar

⁷⁶ La Prensa, 30 03 1979.Google Scholar

⁷⁷ La Prensa, 26 04 1979.Google Scholar

⁷⁸ CEN, , ‘Mensaje al Pueblo Nicaragüense: Momento Insurreccional’, Presencia Crisliana en la Revoución (Managua, 1979), p. 4.Google Scholar

⁷⁹ Four priests currently hold positions in the government: Ernesto Cardenal as Minister of Culture; Miguel D'Escoto as Foreign Minister; Fernando Cardenal SJ as Minister of Education; and Edgar Parrales as Nicaragua's representative to the Organization of American States (OAS).

⁸⁰ Within the Episcopal Conference we can point to two basic tendencies: those bishops who favour a strategy of dialogue vis-à-vis the government and those who prefer to pursue a strategy of confrontation. The former is based on the assumption that the Sandinistas are here to stay; the latter, that they will eventually be overthrown.

⁸¹ Interview with Ernesto, Cardenal, 15 01 1985, Managua;Google Scholar press interview with Fernando, Cardenal, 24 01 1985, Managua.Google Scholar

⁸² Interview with Mons. Pablo, Antonio Vega, 14 07 1983, Juigalpa, and 18 12 1984, Managua.Google Scholar

⁸³ Envio, No. 30 (12 1983), p. 9b.Google Scholar

⁸⁴ CEN, ‘Mensaje de la Conferencia Episcopal de Nicaragua’, (Managua, 18.2.82).

⁸⁵ The majority of Miskitos in Nicaragua – figures vary from 60% to 80% – pertain to the Moravian Church, a Protestant Church founded in Saxony in the 18th century by emigrants from Moravia.

⁸⁶ CEN, ‘Consideraciones Generales de la Conferencia Episcopal de Nicaragua Sobre el Servicio Militar’ (Managua, 29.8.83).

⁸⁷ CEN, ‘Carta Pastoral del Episcopado Nicaragüense Sobre la Reconciliación’ (Managua, 22.4.84).

⁸⁸ The CDN is made up of the Social Christian Party (PSC), the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the Constitutionalist Liberal Party (PLC), the Conservative Party of Nicaragua (PCN), labour groupings (CTN and CUS), and COSEP.

⁸⁹ Centro, Juvenil ‘Don Bosco’, Juan Pablo II: Viaje Pastoral a Centroamérica, Discursos, Homilias y Mensajes (Managua, 1983), p. 57.Google Scholar

⁹⁰ New York Times, 5 03 1983; Washington Post, 5 03 1983; The Times, 5 03 1983.Google Scholar

⁹¹ Interview with Mons. Pablo, Antonio Vega, 18 12 1984, Managua.Google Scholar