D'Escoto felt called to serve as priest and entered the seminary of the Maryknoll Missionary Society in 1953 . He was ordained a priest of the Society in 1961 before becoming engaged in politics . He earned a Master of Science degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism the following year , and was a key figure in the founding of the Maryknoll publishing house , Orbis Books , in 1970 . He served as an official of the World Council of Churches . As an adherent of liberation theology , he secretly joined the Sandinistas . D'Escoto formed the Nicaraguan Foundation for Integral Community Development ( FUNDECI ) in January 1973 to promote a nongovernmental response to the displacement of thousands in the December 1972 Managua earthquake . He continued on as President of FUNDECI , which operates in several departments in Nicaragua until his death in 2017
December 1972 Managua earthquake
1972 Nicaragua earthquake
Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann