‘Casting out demons’ also means denouncing cruelty of dictatorships, exiled Nicaraguan bishop says
Bishop Silvio Báez, exiled from Nicaragua, equated ‘casting out demons’ with denouncing the cruelty of dictatorships during a Mass in Miami. He urged prayer as the foundation for action against oppression and called on the Church to help those trapped by fear, poverty, or violence. Báez highlighted the ongoing persecution of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua and the need for solidarity with those living under repressive regimes. He emphasized that the power Jesus grants serves life and dignity, opposing forces that subjugate people. The homily underscored the Church’s role in healing, restoring hope, and defending human dignity amid political turmoil.
4 months ago
‘Casting out demons’ was presented by exiled Nicaraguan auxiliary bishop Silvio Báez as a metaphor for confronting oppressive regimes and restoring human dignity. In a homily delivered in Miami, the bishop linked the Gospel call to liberate individuals from evil with the Church’s duty to denounce the cruelty of dictatorships and to promote social and personal freedom. 1
Bishop Báez celebrated Mass at St. Agatha Parish in Miami on 14 June 2026, addressing a congregation that includes many Nicaraguan exiles. The sermon drew on Matthew’s account of Jesus empowering the Twelve Apostles to cast out demons, framing it as a timeless call to action. 1
The bishop explained that “casting out demons” means committing to personal and social liberation, helping those trapped by idols, fear, or hopelessness to regain freedom. He extended this concept to the political sphere, asserting that it also entails denouncing the irrationality and cruelty of regimes that violate human dignity. 1
Báez described contemporary dictatorships as modern “demons” that multiply misery, often invoking the name of God while subjugating peoples. He highlighted the Nicaraguan situation, where the government’s campaign against the Catholic Church intensified in 2018 and continues to oppress religious leaders and ordinary citizens. 1
According to the bishop, prayer is the first and most urgent response because it grounds and strengthens subsequent action. He emphasized that prayer does not replace activism; rather, it provides the foundation for effective, compassionate work. 1
Báez urged the faithful to emulate the Apostles by healing the sick, “raising the dead” (restoring hope), and “cleansing lepers” (restoring dignity to the marginalized). He called for gestures of inclusion, solidarity, and respectful dialogue to counter the dehumanizing effects of authoritarian rule. 1
Silvio Báez was forced to leave Nicaragua in 2019 after facing persecution by the dictatorship, which has expelled hundreds of clergy and religious personnel. He now serves the diaspora community in Miami while continuing to speak out against the regime’s violations of human rights. 1*
Church must denounce tyranny as part of its spiritual mission
The Catholic Church’s mission is not merely spiritual in the narrow sense; it includes defending the dignity of every human person and protecting fundamental rights. Within that mission, the Church has a duty to proclaim the truth and also to denounce injustice and violence—especially when these take on the form of tyranny (the abuse of public power that tramples rights and reduces people to subhuman conditions).
Pope John Paul II links the Church’s pastoral duty to the protection of human dignity, describing it as something bishops must defend because it is a Gospel value that cannot be despised without offending the Creator. He further explains that dignity is violated not only individually (e.g., integrity of body and mind, right to profess religion, right to life and essential goods) but also socially and politically—when participation is denied or when people are subjected to “unjust and unlawful coercion” and even torture.
That matters for your statement because “tyranny” is precisely the kind of political abuse that treats persons as objects of coercion rather than as persons. In the Church’s moral vocabulary, this is not a secondary issue; it is a direct assault on human dignity and therefore a Gospel-relevant moral problem.
The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church teaches that the Church’s social doctrine has both dimensions: it “has the task of proclamation, but also of denunciation.” Denunciation is described as the Church becoming “judge and defender of unrecognized and violated rights,” particularly those of “the poor, the least and the weak.”
So the Church’s ability (and obligation) to speak against tyranny is not an improvisation of church leaders; it is presented as part of the Church’s normal work in social doctrine: forming consciences, and warning against sins of injustice and violence embedded in society.
The Catechism states that respect for the human person entails respect for rights “prior to society,” and that these rights are “the basis of the moral legitimacy of every authority.” If they are flouted, then authority can rely only on force or violence to get obedience. It also explicitly notes the Church’s role: “to remind men of good will of these rights” and distinguish them from false claims.
That connects tightly to “tyranny”: tyranny is what happens when authority refuses or destroys the rights that ground legitimacy, leaving violence as its practical instrument. In that scenario, denouncing tyranny is not “political interference” so much as moral clarification about the nature of legitimate authority.
Catholic social teaching frames denunciation as responding to “the sin of injustice and violence” that moves through society and becomes embodied in it. The more rights are ignored or trampled, “the greater becomes the extent of violence and injustice,” affecting entire categories of people.
Thus, denunciation is not merely condemning a leader’s personality or policy preferences; it is a moral judgment that injustice and violence are present—and that persons’ rights and dignity are being attacked.
The U.S. bishops explain that Catholic teaching calls people to bring respect for human dignity into public life and to practice Christ’s commandment to “love one another.” This love is not abstract; it is aimed at promoting the well-being of all, sharing with the needy, defending marriage, and protecting lives and dignity “especially the weak, the vulnerable, [and] the voiceless.”
So the Church’s “spiritual mission” includes ensuring that the vulnerable are not sacrificed to coercion—an essential feature of resisting tyranny.
Catholic teaching distinguishes between:
Pope Pius XI teaches that the Church “condemns every unjust insurrection or violence against constituted powers.”
At the same time, the same source explains that when powers arise “against justice and truth even to destroying the very foundations of authority,” it is not clear that citizens should be condemned for defending themselves and the nation by “licit and appropriate means” against those using public power to bring it to ruin.
This is a key nuance: denunciation of tyranny does not automatically mean endorsing violent revolt; it means moral clarity that some forms of oppression alter the ethical situation regarding what defense can mean, and it calls for “licit and appropriate means.”
Pope Pius XII describes Christians’ duty to raise voices “in real horror” and protest methods that violate principal rights and trample sacred liberty.
He adds that such crimes may be committed “under the guise of patriotism,” and therefore he considers it a duty to remind everyone of the Church’s teaching on this subject.
This is relevant to tyranny because tyrants often justify coercion as “public good,” “security,” or “patriotism.” Catholic denunciation includes exposing the moral unreality of such justifications.
Taking the sources together:
Therefore, your statement is fully compatible with Catholic teaching: denouncing tyranny belongs to the Church’s spiritual mission insofar as it is grounded in the Gospel value of human dignity, carried out through the Church’s social doctrine as both proclamation and denunciation, and aimed at protecting the weak against injustice and violence.
Catholic teaching supports the principle that when tyranny violates the dignity of persons and destroys rights through injustice and violence, the Church is obliged—by her Gospel mission and her social doctrine—to denounce it, while also maintaining moral limits regarding violence and urging licit means consistent with justice and human dignity.