Faith & Joy: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Priest

by Fernando Cardenal

Fernando Cardenal, a Nicaraguan Jesuit priest, oversaw a national literacy campaign and served as minister of education in the revolutionary Sandinista government. The Sandinista revolution was unusual for the wide participation of Christians, including priests, in the struggle. However, the role of priests in the revolutionary government (including Ernesto Cardenal, Fernando's brother, a famous poet), was a source of bitter controversy with the Vatican. When he declined to resign his government post (judging that it would be ""a grave sin if I were to abandon my priestly option for the poor""), Cardenal was suspended from the priesthood and expelled from the Society of Jesus. In later years, following the Sandinista era, he was readmitted - the first case of a Jesuit expelled and readmitted in the history of the Society.

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2015

Reviews

[Gabriella Bugge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful memoir written by an extraordinary human being. Fr. Fernando Cardenal, who unfortunately passed away at the beginning of this year (2016), brilliantly shares his life story, focusing on his relationship between the Society of Jesus and the revolutionary force in Nicaragua during the 1970's through the 1980's. You can feel his humble and positive manner through every page -- I have rarely had an occasion where upon reading a memoir I was able to feel as if the person were directly in front of me, detailing their life events.