Mags GarganFr D’Escoto wanted to celebrate Mass again ‘before dying’
Pope Francis has lifted the suspension of Fr Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann, who was ordered 29 years ago to stop exercising his priestly ministry because he refused to give up his political position in Nicaragua's Sandinista government.
The Pope made his decision after Fr DíEscoto, 81, formally requested permission to resume priestly duties. Vatican Radio reported that Fr D'Escoto had written that he wanted to be able to celebrate Mass again 'before dying'.
The letter announcing the lifting of the suspension was signed by Cardinal Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.
Fr D'Escoto supported the socialist Sandinista National Liberation Front in its effort to overthrow the government of Anastasio Somoza. When the Sandinistas came to power in 1979, he was named foreign minister, a position he held until 1990, when the Sandinistas lost political power in Nicaragua. Church law prohibits priests from holding partisan political offices.