Friday July 6, 2007
Has Former Marxist Revolutionary Turned Practicing Catholic, Pro-life Advocate Had Sincere Conversion?
By John Jalsevac
Nicaragua, July 6, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Ever since Daniel Ortega accompanied his re-election as the president of Nicaragua with a series of conciliatory gestures towards the Catholic Church, including asking forgiveness for his past offences against the Church, many have been daring to ask whether Ortega's apparent conversion is sincere.
An article that appeared earlier this week in the California Catholic Daily asks this very question, pointing out that shortly after taking office in 2007, the leader who was once known for his virulent hatred for the Catholic Church visited the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico, ostensibly to give thanks to the mother of Christ for his victory.
"We come from a Christian and Marian people who venerate the Virgin of Guadalupe," Ortega said at the time.
In addition to beginning to actively practice his Catholic Faith, Ortega also had his long-time marriage blessed in the Church.
While only time will tell whether Daniel Ortega had a sincere change of heart in between being ousted from power in 1990, until his re-election last year, some are pointing towards Ortega's firm defense of Nicaragua's comprehensive abortion ban, despite intense international pressure to have it overturned, as evidence that his conversion is more than simply skin-deep.
Only last week LifeSiteNews.com reported that the Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister had threatened to cut funding to Nicaragua unless the country overturned the abortion ban that was passed in October of last year. "Even if an abortion is medically necessary, it still remains illegal in Nicaragua," said Foreign Affairs Minister Bert Koenders, "which results in the death of women. We should emphasize that this is completely unacceptable."
This was not the first time that Nicaragua, which is one of the poorest countries in the world, had been threatened with financial repercussions for either seriously limiting access to, or, more recently, completely banning abortion.
Nevertheless, Ortega has continued to stand firm in the face of the mounting international pressure, defending every letter of Nicaragua's abortion ban against all detractors.
Skeptics, however, have also pointed out that Nicaragua's abortion ban passed the Legislature by a 52-0 vote, thereby indicating that politically speaking, the internal pressure from Nicaragua's populace may simply be overpowering the external political pressure, since it is the people of Nicaragua who can ensure Ortega's continued place as the President of Nicaragua. Furthermore, according to Joseph D'Agostino of Population Research Institute, since his election, Ortega has developed political relationships with two of the world's most controversial leaders-Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez. Both are thoroughly communist, thoroughly anti-Catholic, and thoroughly anti-life.
As D'Agostino pointed out in a November, 2006 article for Human Events, Daniel Ortega's list of sins is so lengthy and so sordid, that any overtures made towards the Church and to the pro-life cause, cannot but be viewed with suspicion. In addition, Ortega appears not to have left many of his Marxist/socialist ideas behind, many of which directly contradict the Church's clearest social teachings.
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