Case Study: Latin America and the Catholic Church Pope John Paul II made a pastoral visit to Nicaragua and delivered a mass in Leon and Managua, in March 1983. Thousands gathered to hear him even though the Contra war was still going on (Contra comes from the Spanish word la contra, short for la contrarrevolucion, in English it means counter-revolution). The Nicaragua Catholic Church and the Sandinista government were anxious to hear the pope and believed he would give a moral reason to combat the communism of the Sandinista government. However, the others thought he would offer support for the peace process by acting as a mediator and voice his opposition to American aid to the Contras. He spoke more about the growing division within the Church – the “popular church” and the institutional higher Church. After hearing the pope, the Nicaraguan people felt that the Vatican was no longer in touch with Nicaragua. Katherine Hoyt, National Co-Coordinator in Matagalpa, wrote a letter dated March 16, 1983 detailing the events of the pope’s visit. She conveyed disappointment as the people were hoping that the pope would say some words of encouragement and consolation to the families who were losing loved ones to the counter-revolution. She mentioned that just days before the pope’s visit 17 members of the Sandinista Youth Organization were ambushed and killed by the Contras, yet he said nothing at all about this event. Instead he spoke of a solution to the conflict by telling the people that they had to use more “dialogue.” Pope John Paul II encouraged the priests, brothers and sisters to continue to help the people in their sufferings – even at the cost of their own lives – as others had done before in the country of “Our Savior.” He told the people not to be motivated by political reasons but be led by faith and he acknowledged the work of catechists and lay people of the church. The pope’s visit was significant in the revolutionary struggle of the Nicaraguan people however it heightened tensions between the Sandinistas and the Nicaraguan Catholics who supported the Sandinistas. The Contras just used Pope John Paul II’s visit as propaganda to help their organization.