The Real Problem In Latin America Is The 'Idol Of Money,' Says Exiled Bishop
You cannot serve both God and Mammon.
From exile in the U.S., Nicaraguan Bishop Silvio Báez denounced what he called the “real problem” of Latin American dictatorships and cartels: the idolatry of money.
Preaching at a Sept. 21 Mass in Miami, Florida, he appeared to refer to the regimes of Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, Miguel Díaz-Canel in Cuba, and Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. He warned that “all of us, without exception, will leave this world, and God will ask us to account for how we have used the wealth” given to us, while condemning “dictators who act in the dark and without any moral scruples to enrich themselves at any cost.”
He stressed that “the root of Latin America’s main problems are not of a political but of a moral nature” and that “most of the ills of our people come from the excessive ambition for wealth.” Báez accused elites of sacrificing dignity, freedoms, and the future of entire populations because “they worship money.”
“This is the real problem of dictatorships, cartels, and the decadent societies of Latin America: the idol of money,” he declared, describing how corrupt leaders confiscate property, repress their people, and hand over natural resources to foreign powers.
Quoting the Gospel, he reminded the faithful: “You cannot serve both God and money.” He urged Christians to use wealth for the common good, to build solidarity, and to pursue social change with “evangelical wisdom.”
Báez, 67, has been auxiliary bishop of Managua since 2009. A fierce critic of the Ortega regime, he went into exile in 2019 due to persecution but was recently reaffirmed in his role during an August audience with Pope Leo XIV.