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| Fernando Cardenal, Nicaraguan Priest Who Defied Pope, Dies at 82 | Fernando Cardenal, Nicaraguan Priest Who Defied Pope, Dies at 82 |
| (3 days later) | |
| The Rev. Fernando Cardenal, a son of privilege who embraced Latin America’s poor as a revolutionary priest and brazenly defied Pope John Paul II’s order to quit Nicaragua’s leftist cabinet in the 1980s, died on Feb. 20 in Managua. He was 82. | |
| The cause was an infection after a hernia operation, said Iñaki Zubizarreta, the country’s superior of Jesuits. | The cause was an infection after a hernia operation, said Iñaki Zubizarreta, the country’s superior of Jesuits. |
| Father Cardenal was the brother of the Rev. Ernesto Cardenal, the 90-year-old poet and intellectual voice of the insurgency that overthrew the dictator Gen. Anastasio Somoza Debayle in 1979, and who survives him. He was one of four priests steeped in liberation theology, a Christian movement committed to a Marxist agenda of promoting social justice and alleviating poverty, who joined the revolutionary Sandinista cabinet. | Father Cardenal was the brother of the Rev. Ernesto Cardenal, the 90-year-old poet and intellectual voice of the insurgency that overthrew the dictator Gen. Anastasio Somoza Debayle in 1979, and who survives him. He was one of four priests steeped in liberation theology, a Christian movement committed to a Marxist agenda of promoting social justice and alleviating poverty, who joined the revolutionary Sandinista cabinet. |
| As education minister from mid-1984 to 1990 under the Sandinista National Liberation Front, Fernando Cardenal oversaw a sweeping campaign that local officials credited with reducing illiteracy to 13 percent from 51 percent. His brother served as the culture minister. | As education minister from mid-1984 to 1990 under the Sandinista National Liberation Front, Fernando Cardenal oversaw a sweeping campaign that local officials credited with reducing illiteracy to 13 percent from 51 percent. His brother served as the culture minister. |
| After the Cardenal brothers and two other clergymen were warned by the church that their political and priestly posts were incompatible, Fernando Cardenal was the first to be disciplined. He was expelled by the Jesuits in 1984 and suspended from the priesthood by the pope. | After the Cardenal brothers and two other clergymen were warned by the church that their political and priestly posts were incompatible, Fernando Cardenal was the first to be disciplined. He was expelled by the Jesuits in 1984 and suspended from the priesthood by the pope. |
| “My problem with the Vatican was political,” he said in a television interview last year. “The pope was against the revolution because he had been marked by his experience as a young priest in Poland, when he was persecuted by the Polish Communist Party. This marked him forever.” | “My problem with the Vatican was political,” he said in a television interview last year. “The pope was against the revolution because he had been marked by his experience as a young priest in Poland, when he was persecuted by the Polish Communist Party. This marked him forever.” |
| But Father Cardenal said his exposure to Marxism, and earlier to the Sandinista revolution, had the opposite effect. | But Father Cardenal said his exposure to Marxism, and earlier to the Sandinista revolution, had the opposite effect. |
| “I had thought through my decision in 1973, being convinced that it was Jesus who had asked me to commit to this revolution for the poor,” he recalled. “I said, in my spiritual and communitarian discernment, that the voice of Jesus was stronger than that of the pope.” | “I had thought through my decision in 1973, being convinced that it was Jesus who had asked me to commit to this revolution for the poor,” he recalled. “I said, in my spiritual and communitarian discernment, that the voice of Jesus was stronger than that of the pope.” |
| When John Paul suspended him, Father Cardenal said, “I can’t conceive of a God that would ask me to give up my commitment to the people” by abandoning a post committed to the poor. | When John Paul suspended him, Father Cardenal said, “I can’t conceive of a God that would ask me to give up my commitment to the people” by abandoning a post committed to the poor. |
| He later broke with the Sandinistas, who ruled the country from 1979 to 1990, accusing them of betraying the poor, and in 1997 he was uncustomarily readmitted to the Society of Jesus. He went on to direct the Nicaraguan branch of Fe y Alegría (Faith and Joy), a Jesuit-run education program. | He later broke with the Sandinistas, who ruled the country from 1979 to 1990, accusing them of betraying the poor, and in 1997 he was uncustomarily readmitted to the Society of Jesus. He went on to direct the Nicaraguan branch of Fe y Alegría (Faith and Joy), a Jesuit-run education program. |
| Fernando Cardenal Martínez was born on Jan. 26, 1934, in Granada, on Lake Nicaragua in the western part of the country. | Fernando Cardenal Martínez was born on Jan. 26, 1934, in Granada, on Lake Nicaragua in the western part of the country. |
| While his brother Ernesto studied in a Trappist monastery in the United States under Thomas Merton, the American poet and priest, Fernando had a rambunctious adolescence until his attending a religious retreat when he was 17 inspired him to pursue the priesthood. | While his brother Ernesto studied in a Trappist monastery in the United States under Thomas Merton, the American poet and priest, Fernando had a rambunctious adolescence until his attending a religious retreat when he was 17 inspired him to pursue the priesthood. |
| He said he devoted himself to the poor years later only after serving in the slums of Medellín, Colombia. | He said he devoted himself to the poor years later only after serving in the slums of Medellín, Colombia. |
| Returning to Nicaragua, he joined the Sandinistas (named for Augusto Sandino, the leader of an early-20th-century nationalist rebellion against American occupation) as a rifle-toting rebel. | Returning to Nicaragua, he joined the Sandinistas (named for Augusto Sandino, the leader of an early-20th-century nationalist rebellion against American occupation) as a rifle-toting rebel. |
| In 1976, he testified in Washington against the Somoza regime before a congressional committee investigating human rights abuses. Questioned by Representative Edward I. Koch, a New York Democrat, about violence committed by the insurgents, Father Cardenal replied: “These people are fighting for a democratic country. I would prefer that the solution not be bloody, but dictators like Somoza lead people to believe that the only road to democracy is through bloodshed.” | In 1976, he testified in Washington against the Somoza regime before a congressional committee investigating human rights abuses. Questioned by Representative Edward I. Koch, a New York Democrat, about violence committed by the insurgents, Father Cardenal replied: “These people are fighting for a democratic country. I would prefer that the solution not be bloody, but dictators like Somoza lead people to believe that the only road to democracy is through bloodshed.” |
| Congress later ended military aid to the Somoza regime, which was overthrown in 1979. | Congress later ended military aid to the Somoza regime, which was overthrown in 1979. |
| Although the church played a significant role in the fall of General Somoza, Archbishop Miguel Obando y Bravo became a sharp critic of the Sandinistas, particularly after leftist demonstrators disrupted a Mass by Pope John Paul II when he visited in 1983. The pope preached against alliances between the clergy and leftist revolutionary movements and, on arriving in Managua, had famously wagged his finger at Father Cardenal’s defiant brother. | Although the church played a significant role in the fall of General Somoza, Archbishop Miguel Obando y Bravo became a sharp critic of the Sandinistas, particularly after leftist demonstrators disrupted a Mass by Pope John Paul II when he visited in 1983. The pope preached against alliances between the clergy and leftist revolutionary movements and, on arriving in Managua, had famously wagged his finger at Father Cardenal’s defiant brother. |
| Father Cardenal’s mobilization of tens of thousands of young volunteers in a literacy crusade was considered the revolution’s first concrete accomplishment. | Father Cardenal’s mobilization of tens of thousands of young volunteers in a literacy crusade was considered the revolution’s first concrete accomplishment. |
| “In many regions, the chance to read and write was more important to the people than food and work,” he said in 1980. | “In many regions, the chance to read and write was more important to the people than food and work,” he said in 1980. |
| He insisted that his commitment to the poor was coupled with his faith in the value of education and in young people as the vehicle for reform. | He insisted that his commitment to the poor was coupled with his faith in the value of education and in young people as the vehicle for reform. |
| “If some government has no interest in respecting the inalienable rights to a quality education to which every child that is born in their country is entitled, it should at least do it out of fear for its own safety,” he wrote in 2010 in what he called a testament to his followers. | “If some government has no interest in respecting the inalienable rights to a quality education to which every child that is born in their country is entitled, it should at least do it out of fear for its own safety,” he wrote in 2010 in what he called a testament to his followers. |
| He described youth as his hope. “The only thing needed is that society offer them a great, noble, beautiful cause, if it be difficult, all the better, and that those leading it are people with moral authority,” he wrote. “I hope that the youth take to the streets again to make history.” | He described youth as his hope. “The only thing needed is that society offer them a great, noble, beautiful cause, if it be difficult, all the better, and that those leading it are people with moral authority,” he wrote. “I hope that the youth take to the streets again to make history.” |