Auxiliary Bishop Silvio Báez of Managua, Nicaragua, left, who lives in exile in Miami, speaks with Father José Luis Díaz, Feb. 12, 2023, at St. Agatha Parish in Miami.
By Barb Arland-Fye
The Catholic Messenger
Bishop Silvio José Báez Ortega, O.C.D., who has risked his life advocating for justice and peace in his beloved homeland of Nicaragua, will receive the Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award on July 9 in Davenport.
Bishop Báez, 67, lives in exile and teaches at a seminary in Boynton Beach, Florida but continues to speak out for human rights and democracy in Nicaragua. He is among hundreds of Nicaraguans expelled or deported in recent years for criticizing the administration of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo.
In 2019, the late Pope Francis asked Bishop Báez to “leave the country to protect him from death threats from the regime of President Daniel Ortega,” Jersey Catholic reported. “Nicaraguan citizens began protesting Ortega in 2014 over political corruption, with tensions escalating over the next decade. In the time leading up to his exile, Bishop Báez and other Catholic leaders served as intermediaries between Ortega and anti-government protestors. But in April 2018 the Ortega crackdown on protests turned deadly. As violence and killings escalated, the bishop became increasingly vocal in his criticism of the repressive government, and Ortega accused him of plotting a coup in October of 2018” (https://tinyurl.com/bfj359x6).
In 2023, Bishop Báez was among 94 people that a Nicaraguan court called “dissidents” and stripped them of their citizenship. “Judge Ernesto Rodríguez said the 94 had carried out ‘criminal acts to the detriment of peace, sovereignty, independence and self-determination of the Nicaraguan people,’” BBC News reported (https://tinyurl.com/3uuup5e2).
Bishop Báez will receive the Pacem in Terris award at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport at 7 p.m., three days before he delivers the keynote talk in Ottumwa at the Spanish theological-pastoral conference of the Davenport Diocese’s Multicultural Ministry Office. The July 12 conference celebrates the Eucharistic Revival and Jubilee 2025. Bishop Báez “is a prophetic voice in Nicaragua who has suffered on behalf of the Eucharist,” said Miguel Moreno, diocesan director of Multicultural Ministry. “He’s coming to share his experience, testimony and life.”
The bishop’s participation in the conference led to an invitation for him to receive the Pacem in Terris award, said Deacon Kent Ferris, diocesan director of Social Action who oversees the award’s interfaith coalition. Deacon Ferris discovered that Bishop Báez, like two of the Pacem in Terris award’s previous recipients, had received the National Endowment for Democracy Award.
“Bishop Báez speaks prophetically against the government in his home country because the resulting oppression affects the lives of his people and perpetuates a multitude of injustices,” Deacon Ferris said. “Bishop Baez has also suffered, personally. By speaking truth to power, he is not able to minister to his flock in person, to provide them with the Bread of Life.”
The Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award honors Pope John XXIII and takes its name from his encyclical “Pacem in Terris” (“Peace on Earth”), which calls on all people to secure peace among the nations.
Nicaraguan Cardinal Leopoldo José Brenes Solórzano and Auxiliary Bishop Silvio José Báez arrive at anti-government protests in Diriamba July 9, 2018. Bishop Báez is currently exiled in Miami.
Bishop Báez “bravely demanded freedom in Nicaragua and suffered severe consequences as a result,” U.S. Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart of Florida said in a news release after presenting the National Endowment for Democracy’s service medal to Bishop Báez in 2023. “Under the oppressive grip of the Ortega regime, even the small space available to clergy, religious schools, charitable organizations, and even the order that Mother Teresa founded, have been stripped of their legal status, while their leaders are imprisoned or forced into exile…. The people of Nicaragua will be free, and it will be due to the relentless courage, faith, and work of individuals such as Bishop Báez.”
Pacem in Terris award coalition
An interfaith coalition presents the Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award to the recipients. Coalition members include: the Diocese of Davenport; St. Ambrose University, Davenport; Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois; Churches United of the Quad City Area; Islamic Center of the Quad Cities, Moline, Illinois; The Catholic Messenger, Diocese of Davenport; Muslim Community of the Quad Cities, Bettendorf; Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities; Congregation of the Humility of Mary, Davenport; Sisters of St. Francis, Clinton; and Sisters of St. Francis, Dubuque.
Among the award’s previous recipients are John F. Kennedy (1964, posthumous); Martin Luther King, Jr., (1965); Dorothy Day (1972); Bishop Dom Helder Camara (1975); Mother Teresa (1976); Cardinal Joseph Bernardin (1985); Archbishop Desmond Tutu (1987); Eileen Egan (1989); Cesar Chavez (1992); Father Daniel Berrigan (1993); Adolfo Perez Esquivel (1999); Lech Walesa (2001); Father Gustavo Gutiérrez-Merino Díaz, OP (2016); and the Dalai Lama (2019).
An interview posted six years ago on the Carmelite Quotes blog (https://tinyurl.com/ awhh6h9r) underscored the persistent commitment of Bishop Báez to work for justice that leads to peace. In his interview with the Mater Purissima review, he described what should distinguish a Christian today:
“In the first place, a Christian must distinguish himself by a very clear stance in favor of human dignity. Let’s not forget: God became man and died to save us. That’s why for Christians this commitment in favor of humanity is decisive, their ability to create relationships based on a sense of community, working to build more peaceful societies, more just, more human… taking care of the planet, because the faith has an ecological dimension.”
Bishop Dennis Walsh will present the award during a ceremony that begins July 9, 2025 at 7 p.m CDT. in Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport; It will be on Live on Davenport Diocese YouTube .
Fast facts about Bishop Báez
Born: April 28, 1958 in Masaya, in the Archdiocese of Managua, Nicaragua.
Education: Salesian High School, Masaya; Central American University, Managua (engineering studies); Theological Institute of Central America, San Jose, Costa Rica (completed studies in philosophy and theology); Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome (degree in Sacred Scripture); Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome (doctorate, Sacred Scripture and Exegesis). Advance studies in Sacred Scripture, biblical geography and archeology in Rome and in Jerusalem.
Religious community: Entered the Order of Discalced Carmelites (1979).
Priesthood ordination: Jan. 15, 1985, Order of Discalced Carmelites.
Episcopal ordination: May 30, 2009, Archdiocese of Managua.
Ministry: Rector, Seminary of the Discalced Carmelite Fathers, Guatemala. Served in academic positions at universities in Guatemala; professor of Biblical Spirituality (Pontifical University Urbiana), Rome; vice president of faculty, Pontifical Theological Faculty Teresianum (Rome). Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Managua (in exile) and a professor of Old Testament at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary, Boynton Beach, Florida.
