In addition to the hundreds of priests, nuns, and laypeople who participated in FSLN programs, several liberation theologians held executive positions within the FSLN government. In 1979, Ernesto Cardenal and Miguel D'Escoto became the FSLN Minister of Culture and Foreign Minister, respectively. Other priests including Fernando Cardenal, Edgar Parrales, and Alvaro Arguello also served in governmental positions with the FSLN. Despite criticism and threats from the conservative Nicaraguan Catholic hierarchy and the Vatican, these liberation theologians held office throughout the rule of the FSLN, maintaining their conception that their governmental service expressed a theological commitment to social justice and the liberation of the poor.