During his visit to Nicaragua in 1983, Pope John Paul II publicly reprimanded Fr Ernesto Cardenal as the priest knelt to welcome the pope at Managua airport.

In his traditional Christmas day Urbi et Orbi message, the Pontiff prayed that Syrians might “find fraternity after long years of war” and that Yemen’s recent truce would bring relief to its people and children “exhausted by war and famine”.

People are facing severe shortages of clean drinking water, food and medical assistance. The disaster zone has a population of 1.4 million people, with around 70,000 already gathered in crowded evacuation sites.

"Romero saw the struggle for justice in his country as a struggle against forces that were not simply political and economic, but demonic."

Fr Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann no longer holds political office and expressed the desire to be able to celebrate the Eucharist again before he dies.