{"id":76940,"date":"2025-12-09T12:50:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T12:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/76940\/"},"modified":"2025-12-09T12:50:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T12:50:08","slug":"nicaraguans-in-miami-decorate-altars-for-joyous-catholic-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/76940\/","title":{"rendered":"Nicaraguans in Miami decorate altars for joyous Catholic festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

MIAMI (AP) \u2014 Hundreds of Nicaraguans sang in praise of the Virgin Mary<\/a> at flower-and-light-filled altars set up in church parking lots as well as in the back of vehicles on the streets of Miami to mark the Dec. 8 feast of the Immaculate Conception.<\/p>\n

The exuberant celebration called \u201cgriter\u00eda\u201d is especially poignant this year during the ongoing crackdowns on religion<\/a> in Nicaragua as well as on immigrant communities in the United States<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to do it no matter what,\u201d said Neri Flores, who traveled from Chicago to set up an altar with his parents for the vigil Sunday night. \u201cIt\u2019s tradition, family, giving back to the community, keeping up the faith and positive vibes.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the back of a large rental SUV parked near a Catholic church, the family put a painting of the Immaculate Conception at the center of their altar. Flores\u2019 mother carried the painting across the U.S.-Mexican border when she was pregnant with him in the early 1980s.<\/p>\n

Next to them, another family set up a larger altar with half a dozen statues of the Virgin Mary \u2014 and had four generations helping out.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the blessings that we have are thanks to her,\u201d said Michael Garcia, who was born in Miami but whose grandmother brought one of the statues when she fled Nicaragua. \u201cFor the Virgin, there is no impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nicaragua\u2019s ongoing crackdown on religion<\/p>\n

A mid-19th century Vatican proclamation of the dogma that Mary was conceived free from original sin, which the Catholic faith teaches all humans carry, gave new popularity to the feast day worldwide. In Nicaragua, there\u2019s a special tradition for families to create home altars and then go visit others, singing, from house to house.<\/p>\n

But those celebrations have been either stifled or co-opted by the Nicaraguan government in an intensifying persecution of religion that human rights advocates, exiled priests and the U.S. government say is one of the most severe in the world.<\/p>\n

Like several Latin American governments tracing their roots back to socialist revolutions, Nicaragua\u2019s copresidents Daniel Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo, have had an uneven relationship with faith leaders<\/a> for decades.<\/p>\n

But since violently repressing civic protests in 2018 and the unfolding human rights crisis<\/a>, the government has gone after Catholic priests and nuns, whom they accuse of supporting unrest. Clergy and lay observers say the church has become the only voice resisting state violence and aiding its victims. <\/p>\n

Hundreds of Christian clergy and lay people have been imprisoned and exiled<\/a>, many religious festivities have been barred, and many of the remaining faithful say they\u2019re under strict surveillance.<\/p>\n

In the United States, the Trump administration has sought to end<\/a> expanded and temporary legal protections for around 430,000 migrants<\/a> from Nicaragua, as well as from Venezuela, Cuba and Haiti. It\u2019s part of an ongoing crackdown<\/a> on migrants across the country that has spread fear in many communities.<\/p>\n

But at Miami\u2019s St. John Bosco Catholic Parish \u2014 where most of the 3,000 member families are from Nicaragua and Honduras, and many are undocumented \u2014 more than a thousand people lined up Sunday evening to sing and pray by altars set up in the parking lot and the major thoroughfare in front of the church.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s event is all about a gesture of trust,\u201d said the Rev. Yader Centeno, the pastor, who\u2019s also from Nicaragua. \u201cFor the people who are here, it\u2019s a moment to strengthen their faith. And to share a message with those back in Nicaragua that here, we are free.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crowds gather around altars in Miami <\/p>\n

Some altars had elaborate balloon arches, twinkling strings of lights and massive sound systems, while others had just a small statue of the Virgin framed by fresh palm fronds in the cars\u2019 hatchbacks.<\/p>\n

As visitors reached each altar, they erupted in the traditional \u201cgrito\u201d or cry that many also had emblazoned on T-shirts \u2014 with Spanish for \u201cWho causes so much joy? Mary\u2019s conception!\u201d<\/p>\n

Then they sang traditional hymns to the Virgin as the families and other groups that created the altars donated toys, traditional food like yucca and chicharrones, and small religious souvenirs like rosaries<\/a> \u2014 a big show of community support since most had planned to serve at least 500 people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m super happy. To have this tradition outside of my country is something grand,\u201d said Scarlet Desbas as her husband finished setting up their hatchback altar by plugging lights into the car battery. \u201cOur ancestors inculcated in us this faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many said they undertook the expensive task as a promise to the Virgin, to express gratitude, and to ask for protection both in the United States and for their families in Nicaragua.<\/p>\n

Claudia Fuertes, who came to the U.S. nearly two decades ago, set up a giant white-and-blue balloon arch \u2014 traditional colors for the feast day and also Nicaragua\u2019s flag \u2014 to frame the altar on the back of a pickup next to St John Bosco\u2019s sanctuary. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have faith that Nicaragua one day will be free,\u201d Fuertes added.<\/p>\n

Praying for peace in Nicaragua and the US<\/p>\n

On the outskirts of Miami, hundreds attended St. Agatha Catholic Parish for Sunday\u2019s Mass \u2014 and others watched the livestream. The Rev. Silvio B\u00e1ez<\/a>, auxiliary bishop of Managua, urged them to speak out against those who use faith to oppress the vulnerable and those to bow before worldly powers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Virgin is not going to forget our people and one day, Nicaragua will be free,\u201d said B\u00e1ez before leading the congregation in the traditional \u201cgrito\u201d to Mary.<\/p>\n

B\u00e1ez left Nicaragua in 2019 because the late Pope Francis told him he should do so, to save his life. In the last few months, with Pope Leo XIV<\/a> \u2019s papacy, B\u00e1ez has started delivering again powerful and blunt sermons at Miami Masses.<\/p>\n

St. Agatha\u2019s pastor, the Rev. Marcos Somarriba \u2014 who came from Nicaragua as a teen, decades ago \u2014 said the situation for the faithful in Nicaragua remains dire. He said people there must have the government\u2019s permission to set up altars and certain traditional colors are forbidden.<\/p>\n

But he said President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with their experience in Florida, should understand how dire the conditions are for those persecuted in countries like Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela \u2014 and should ensure U.S. immigration policies reflect that.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe U.S. government should take clear measures to protect the peoples, the Nicaraguans, who have come here because they have lost their homeland,\u201d Somarriba said.<\/p>\n

Back near St. John Bosco\u2019s, Oscar Carballo was doing the rounds by the altars, singing to the Virgin, after winning over relatives who hesitated to come out because of rumors on social media about immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n

He stopped at the Flores family\u2019s altar.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere you feel like in the patio of your home,\u201d he said, gesturing toward an image of the Virgin Mary. \u201cThe only thing I ask her is that we can stay here, and that there might be peace. Everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP\u2019s collaboration<\/a> with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI (AP) \u2014 Hundreds of Nicaraguans sang in praise of the Virgin Mary at flower-and-light-filled altars set up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76941,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[43354,43356,20368,3758,43358,43360,409,1882,28,477,1841,3446,30587,8877,43359,123,125,124,43350,43361,43349,43355,99,43351,43352,1739,43353,43357,1110,39821,10645],"class_list":["post-76940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-bribery","tag-catholic-church","tag-central-america","tag-christianity","tag-claudia-fuertes","tag-daniel-ortega","tag-donald-trump","tag-fl-state-wire","tag-florida","tag-general-news","tag-immigration","tag-latin-america","tag-local-news-for-apple","tag-marco-rubio","tag-marcos-somarriba","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-michael-garcia","tag-neri-flores","tag-nicaragua","tag-oscar-carballo","tag-politics","tag-pope-francis","tag-pope-leo-xiv","tag-religion","tag-rosario-murillo","tag-silvio-bez","tag-u-s-news","tag-united-states-government","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}