Under President Daniel Ortega, incidents against the Catholic church have included arson, harassment and the arrest of clergy.

This crackdown reflects the Ortega regime's broader strategy to silence dissenting voices, particularly those within the Church, which has been one of the government's most outspoken critics.

In August 2024, the Nicaraguan government took further steps to dismantle civil society by revoking the legal status of 1,500 non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

There are 678 Catholic and evangelical NGOs in the group that have been closed, including the diocesan Caritas of Matagalpa, a Catholic charity known for its extensive humanitarian work.

The government justified this move by claiming that these NGOs failed to meet financial reporting requirements. However, critics argue this is part of a systematic effort to eliminate opposition.

The assets of these shuttered organisations have been transferred to the state, raising concerns about the government's increasing control over civil society.

Clergy forced to leave

The Catholic Church, particularly in the Diocese of Matagalpa, has been a primary target of the Ortega regime.

In early August, two more priests were exiled from the country, joining a growing list of clergy forced to leave Nicaragua under duress.

The exiled priests had been under house arrest before their expulsion, part of a broader crackdown that has seen religious leaders detained, held incommunicado and forced into exile.

Bishop Rolando Álvarez is among those exiled. Álvarez is a prominent critic of Ortega and was sentenced to 26 years in prison before being forced to leave Nicaragua in February 2023.

The regime's actions, including the church attacks, have drawn sharp criticism from the international community, with human rights organisations and religious freedom advocates calling for increased pressure on Nicaragua. There have been calls for targeted sanctions against Nicaraguan officials responsible for these human rights violations.

The Vatican, which has seen its diplomatic relations with Nicaragua deteriorate sharply, has also condemned the ongoing persecution of the Church. Closing the Vatican's nunciature in Managua in March 2023 marked a low point in relations between the Holy See and the Ortega regime.

Sources

Catholic News Agency

Vatican News

Catholic News Agency

CathNews New Zealand

Nicaragua's government declared Pope Francis's Society of Jesus (Jesuit) order illegal on Wednesday.

All the Jesuits' property and assets were confiscated. The government claims that's because the Jesuits had failed to comply with tax laws.

On Wednesday, the San Salvador-based Jesuit Province of Central America which oversees the Jesuit order in Nicaragua decried the expulsion.

The Nicaraguan decree "cancelled the [Jesuits] legal status" and allowed the government to seize the Jesuits' "immovable and movable property," they announced.

The decision was made "without evidence that the administrative procedures established by law had been carried out."

Nor did the decree allow "the opportunity for a legitimate defence on the part of the Jesuits and without an impartial body that judges and stops these totally unjustified and arbitrary abuses of authority."

Crimes against humanity

The Jesuits say that the decree is a fresh act of "aggression" against the Society of Jesus.

It is "framed in a national context of systematic repression classified as ‘crimes against humanity' by the group of experts on Human Rights in Nicaragua formed by the United Nations.

The government's actions are aimed at "the full establishment of a totalitarian regime" the Jesuits say.

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo, Nicaragua's Vice President, have failed to "at least being honest with these facts."

The Jesuits say the president and vice president are responsible for impeding an independent and neutral judiciary, which would allow it "to take measures to stop, reverse and sanction" the unjust actions that have been taken.

Their statement calls on the couple to "cease the repression" and seek "a rational solution in which truth, dialogue, justice, respect for human rights and for the rule of law prevail."

It also asks the Ortega government to respect the "freedom and total integrity" of the Jesuits and their collaborators.

Thousands of Nicaraguan victims are "waiting for justice and the repair of the damage that the current Nicaraguan government is causing," the Jesuits say.

At least 26 universities have been closed and their assets seized by the government since December 2021. The most recent occurred two weeks ago.

Catholic tension

Tensions with the Catholic Church in the country have escalated.

Diplomatic relations with the Vatican were severed in April when Nicaragua ousted the Vatican's envoy. The Holy See subsequently formally closed its embassy.

Last year, two orders of nuns were expelled.

In August 2022, Nicaraguan authorities arrested Bishop Rolando Álvarez, who was among the Church's most outspoken critics of the Ortega regime.

He was charged with treason and sentenced to 26 years in prison.

Nicaragua has also outlawed or closed over 3,000 civic groups and NGOs including the Red Cross.

Thousands of Nicaraguans have fled since the regime's violent crackdown on the 2018 protests.

Defiant thanks

The Jesuits say they're grateful for the many expressions of support and solidarity they have received "in the face of these growing outrages."

Source

• Crux Now

The Central American University (UCA) announced on Wednesday that all classes and administrative activities were suspended after a criminal court ruled its property and financial accounts were being transferred to the government.

The Society of Jesus, the Jesuit order that runs the school, told reporters that the government had accused the university of being "a centre of terrorism organised by criminal groups".

In the wake of the announcement, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) issued a statement condemning the university's confiscation.

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Members of the Sandinista police "like criminals broke into the house of the Sisters of the Fraternity of the Poor Ones of Jesus Christ at midnight yesterday; they were going to leave the country soon," tweeted Martha Patrica Molina on July 2.

Molina is a Nicaraguan lawyer and researcher who authored the report "Nicaragua: a Persecuted Church?" which details over 500 attacks against the Church by the regime.

The Nicaraguan media outlet Article 66 reported that the Ministry of the Interior took the measure on July 4 and that the sisters were going to leave Nicaragua next week since the authorities had not renewed their residency permit.

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According to ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish language news partner, Álvarez, bishop of the Diocese of Matagalpa in Managua, was released on Monday but returned to custody Wednesday, July 5 after he refused to comply with the Ortega regime's demand that he go into exile.

Following reports from Nicaraguan media and human rights activists that he was released from "Modelo Prison" on Monday night, Álvarez, an outspoken critic of the communist Ortega dictatorship, has been returned to captivity.

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The independent media reported on June 2 that according to sources with ties to the diocese, the donation of $563,206 was legally made on June 14, 2012, to Estelí Caritas when Abelardo Mata was diocesan bishop.

The charity, whose legal personhood was cancelled by the National Assembly on Feb 7, 2022, agreed to a "total donation" of the money to the Diocese of Estelí, whose apostolic administrator is Bishop Rolando Álvarez.

The prelate was unjustly sentenced in February to 26 years and four months in prison, charged with treason by the regime.

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The move escalates his crackdown on the country's Catholic Church and political opponents.

The Nicaraguan government has prohibited the processions from being held in public venues, with the ritual to be conducted only inside churches on Good Friday and during Lent.

The ban is the latest in a series of moves against the Nicaraguan Church.

Tensions between the Sandinista regime and the Catholic Church have escalated.

Ortega accuses the Catholic hierarchy of supporting former dictator Somoza and accusing the Church of committing "grave crimes and horrors".

In his speech, Ortega also accused the Vatican of being a "mafia organisation."

He suggested that the people should elect priests and bishops, and even the Pope, rather than having them appointed by the Vatican.

The ban on public processions has sparked outrage among the Nicaraguan Catholic community, who view the Way of the Cross as an essential expression of their faith and a symbol of their resistance to the regime.

Many have taken to social media to voice their opposition to the ban, with some calling it a violation of their religious freedom.

The ban has also drawn criticism from international human rights organisations and other countries, with the US government expressing concern about the situation in Nicaragua and calling for the release of political prisoners.

The Nicaraguan Church has been a vocal critic of Ortega's regime, calling for free and fair elections and denouncing the government's human rights abuses.

The government, in turn, has accused the Church of supporting opposition groups and fomenting unrest.

The ban on public processions is just the latest example of the government's efforts to silence the Church and opposition groups.

How the Nicaraguan people will respond to this latest provocation remains to be seen.

Sources

Vatican News

CathNews New Zealand

The sentencing of Bishop Rolando Álvarez (pictured) occurred just a day after President Daniel Ortega criticised the bishop for refusing to leave the country with other political prisoners.

Bishop Álvarez, of the central city of Matagalpa, had been under house arrest and was set to go on trial next week. However, he was taken to prison after he refused to board a plane to the US with 222 other political prisoners. The Biden administration agreed to receive the released prisoners.

The bishop, an outspoken critic of Ortega, had called for electoral reforms and free democratic elections in Nicaragua. Ortega referred to the bishop as "out of his mind" and arrogant in a speech. Ortega also claimed Álvarez had refused to obey the state's decisions.

The sentence is the longest given to any of Ortega's opponents since the 2021 presidential election.

Ortega, a former Marxist guerrilla leader, has been in power since 2007 and controls Nicaragua's electoral authority, National Assembly, Supreme Court and all of the country's municipalities.

Relations between the Catholic church, a powerful institution in Nicaragua, and the Ortega government have deteriorated since the 2018 protests in which over 300 people were killed, mostly by government security forces.

Pope Francis concerned

Pope Francis on Sunday spoke of his concern over the imprisonment of Bishop Álvarez in his weekly blessing to pilgrims and tourists in St Peter's Square. "The news from Nicaragua has grieved me not a little and I cannot help but remember with concern the Bishop of Matagalpa, Monsignor Rolando Alvarez, whom I love so much and who has been sentenced to 26 years in prison, and also the people who have been taken to the United States," Pope Francis said.

The Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights called the verdict the "reaffirmation of the total destruction of the rule of law in Nicaragua." It warned that the bishop's life and security were in danger.

The US State Department condemned the stripping of the bishop's citizenship and called for his release, while Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasised the importance of constructive dialogue with Nicaragua.

Sources

The Wall Street Journal

US News

CathNews New Zealand

In a fiery address, Ortega took aim at Nicaragua's Catholic bishops for promoting democracy as an exit from the country's political crisis, alleging without proof that they called on protesters to kill him during the 2018 protests — which his regime violently repressed.

He called the bishops and Pope Francis "the perfect dictatorship," then asked, accusatorially, "Who elected the bishops, the pope, the cardinals?"

He continued in the 28 September speech marking the 43rd anniversary of the National Police: "With what moral authority do they speak of democracy? Let them start with the Catholic vote. … Everything is imposed. It's a dictatorship, the perfect dictatorship. It's a tyranny, the perfect tyranny."

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In response, the archdiocese called for the country's faithful to spend Friday praying and fasting and attend Mass at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Managua (pictured) on Saturday.

The banned procession was to be a closing ceremony for the country's Marian Congress. It was also a send-off for the Portuguese statue of Our Lady of Fatima.

The move came just a week after the Ortega government took seven Catholic radio stations off the air.

The stations were led by Bishop Rolando Alvarez, head of the Diocese of Matagalpa and Esteli. He is an outspoken Ortega critic.

Alvarez is the subject of an investigation for alleged conspiracy. He has been trapped in the diocese's episcopal palace, surrounded by police, for two weeks.

Relations between the Catholic Church and the Nicaraguan government have been tense since the Church tried to serve as a mediator in 2018 after an Ortega-backed social security proposal sparked nationwide protests.

The bishop has criticised the government for its repression of the populace. In turn, the government has accused the bishop of "organising violent groups" and encouraging them "to carry out acts of hate against the population".

In his homily for the August 11 Mass celebrated in the chancery chapel, Bishop Álvarez recalled that Christ taught that one must not harbour resentment. But you must always forgive, defeating "evil with the force and power of good".

"We are here, gathered together and under detention, already on the eighth day that we are spending today," he said at the beginning of the Eucharist. "Our eleven lives are in the hands of the Lord."

Álvarez assured that "painful experiences do not happen in vain; they don't fall into a void. These experiences are offered to the Lord, and God returns them in blessings for us".

The prelate said that when you want to harm another person, that "means the devil has managed to penetrate your heart and has managed to enter, infecting your heart. You shouldn't allow that."

"Evil is defeated by the power of good. Good is always more powerful. Good is eternally powerful. Evil is tremendously limited, even though it makes more noise," he noted.

The bishop of Matagalpa encouraged Nicaraguans not to fall into despair since "that's another temptation we face, because a people without hope is a self-entombed people".

Instead, he invited the faithful to be "inundated with the hope" of Christ who defeated death.

"Don't have the slightest doubt that the Lord is blessing you, because he is daily accepting our offering for you. And keep offering your prayers and supplications for us," he encouraged.

Sources

Reuters

Catholic News

Catholic News Agency

CathNews NZ

"I wanted to leave for the cathedral to do the holy hour, the holy Mass, but obviously the higher authorities haven't given permission, we are here ... shut up inside the diocesan offices," reported Álvarez, who is also the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Estelí.

"Here we are going to remain without disrespecting the police; we have never disrespected them. I'm going to wait until they allow me to leave," added the prelate. He then blessed the police officers by making the sign of the cross over them.

A video released by a Nicaraguan human rights organisation shows Álvarez holding a monstrance with the Eucharist in a cordoned area of the street and a policeman preventing him from processing.

The video shows the policeman whispering something to the bishop.

"You're the ones who didn't cooperate," the bishop answered him. He explained that he was trying to do what is customary for him on Thursdays, to expose the Eucharist and pray.

Riot police have also prevented Father Uriel Vallejos and a group of faithful from leaving the rectory of Jesus of the Divine Mercy parish in the town of Sébaco.

The confinement of the priest and parishioners began after the police forced their way into his parish to shut down the Catholic radio station that operated on the premises. Vallejos is the radio station's director.

Bishop Álvarez also coordinated a network of Catholic radio stations that the Nicaraguan government recently shut down by order of the government for allegedly not having a valid operating licence since 2003.

However, the diocese reported that Alvarez said that in 2016 he personally presented the required documentation and never received a reply.

It is widely believed the stations were shut down because it was critical of the administration of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo.

President Ortega, who has been in power for 15 years, has been openly hostile to the Catholic Church in Nicaragua.

Ortega alleged the bishops were part of an attempted coup to drive him out of office in 2018 because they supported anti-government demonstrations that his regime brutally suppressed. The Nicaraguan president has called the bishops "terrorists" and "devils in cassocks".

Sources

• Catholic News Agency
• Catholic News
• CathNews NZ

Bishop Rolando Álvarez, who serves as the radio's coordinator and leads the remote northern Matagalpa diocese, announced the closures on Monday.

Álvarez said he had received a letter from the state telecommunications agency Telcor informing him of the closures.

"All our radio stations have been closed, but they will not cancel the word of God" Álvarez said on Twitter.

The Nicaraguan telecommunications agency said the radio stations did not meet the technical requirements to be on air. However, Telcor did not specify what those requirements were.

Álvarez called the move "an injustice" and urged Telcor's director to show the legality.

Relations between the Catholic Church and the Ortega government have deteriorated since 2018, when there were sustained protests against the president's rule and a subsequent crackdown by the government.

Ortega has maintained that the protests in 2018 were an attempt to forcibly remove him from office with international backing. His government has systematically pursued opposition figures and organisations viewed as critics.

Bishop Álvarez has been one of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's most outspoken critics in the church. He has called for the release of prisoners, including political opposition leaders. Earlier this year, he went on a hunger strike to protest what he called "police persecution" against him.

Álvarez said that police had occupied the parish house in Sebaco, where one of the radio stations operated. Sebaco is about 65 miles north of the country's capital, Managua.

The Matagalpa diocese denounced the occupation in a statement. It said the parish priest, Rev Uriel Vallejos, also a government critic, was inside the house.

Videos shared on social media showed Nicaraguan police firing tear gas and shots into the air on Monday night before taking control of the parish and the radio station.

Vallejo took refuge in the parish house and, as of Tuesday morning, was still locked inside with eight accompanying parishioners, according to a tweet sent by the priest.

Sources

• Reuters
• NewsMax

Dedicated to serving the poorest of the poor, the Missionaries of Charity are among 101 non-governmental organisations the legislator wants to close.

Some of the other Catholic NGOs in for the chop include the Catholic Foundation for Human Development Assistance for Nicaraguans, the Spirituality Foundation for Children of Nicaragua, the My Childhood Mothers Foundation and the Diriomito Children's Care Home Association.

Filiberto Rodríguez has prepared an order to shut down the NGO. He presented the order in a June 22 letter to the country's legislature.

The text, which includes several allegations against NGOs, could be debated by the National Assembly in the coming days. It alleges for example that the Missionaries of Charity order "has failed to comply with its obligations".

These obligations are set out in legislation regulating nonprofit organisations, money-laundering, financing terrorism and financing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

According to Daniel Ortega's government, the Missionaries of Charity in Nicaragua are not accredited "by the Ministry for the Family to function as a nursery-centre for childhood development, a home for girls and a home for the elderly."

Neither "do they have an operating permit from the Ministry of Education to provide remedial education for students".

Furthermore, their "financial statements reported to the Ministry of the Interior don't agree" with other documents presented for review.

The Missionaries of Charity Association in Nicaragua was opened in the late 1980s.

They work with a range of people in need. In the city of Granada, for instance, they take in abandoned adolescents and victims of abuse. Besides providing spiritual and psychological help, minors receive regular classes in music, theatre, sewing, beauty and other trades.

In the capital, Managua, the sisters run a nursing home providing the elderly with food, clothing and other care.

The Missionaries of Charity also provide remedial education for minors at risk and run a nursery for poor children. These children are mostly children of single mothers and street vendors.

While the National Assembly still has to approve the order to close, Ortega's political party holds 75 out of the 90 seats. Approval is expected.

Managua Auxiliary Bishop Silvio José Báez, who has been living in exile at the request of Pope Francis since April 2019 due to numerous death threats, deplored the situation.

He wrote on Twitter from Miami: "It makes me very sad that the dictatorship has forced the Missionaries of Charity of Teresa of Calcutta to leave the country. Nothing justifies depriving the poor of charitable care."

During the past four years, the Catholic Church in Nicaragua has been the target of 190 attacks and desecrations. These include a fire in the Managua Cathedral as well as police harassment and persecution of bishops and priests.

Source

• Catholic News Agency

The Nuncio, Archbishop Waldemar Stanisław Sommertag, has appealed for peace in the Pope's name.

Violence has beset the country since April this year.

"With all my human and spiritual strength, I appeal to the consciences of all to reach a truce and return quickly to a national dialogue to seek together an adequate solution to solve the crisis," Sommertag says.

He says he and Pope Francis "weep for all the dead and pray for their families."

The Nicaraguan Pro-Human Rights Association say 351 people died in killings related to unrest between April 19 and July 10 this year.

They say the majority of the deaths were civilians protesting against President Daniel Ortega and calling for his resignation.

Ortega has been in power since 2007 and is on his third mandate. His wife Rosario Murillo is the Vice President.

Last Tuesday, police and pro-government militias took control of the Masaya.

Masaya is a suburb of the Nicaraguan capital Managua. It has become a symbol of resistance to Ortega.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Apostolic Nuncio called the violence a "tragic moment" for the country.

"I wish to express, on behalf of the Holy Father and the Holy See, my deep concern for the grave situation the country is facing.

"Obviously, it is unacceptable to think that the dead and victims of violence can solve the political crisis and guarantee a future of peace and prosperity in Nicaragua."

The Catholic Church has recently become a target of threats and attacks by security forces.

Sommertag, Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes and Bishop Silvio Báez were attacked by pro-government activists on 9 July.

In a separate incident, Bishop Abelardo Mata narrowly avoided an attack last week.

Despite these acts of aggression, the bishops are continuing to call for a return to dialogue with Ortega's government.

They are condemning "the lack of political will on the part of the government to dialogue in sincerity and seek real paths towards democracy."

Ortega, who originally asked church leaders to mediate the crisis, said last week their actions disqualified them as mediators.

He said the bishops had given him an ultimatum to call early elections and alleged that churches have been used to stockpile weapons and stage attacks.

"I thought they were mediators, but no, they are committed to the coup mongers. They were part of the coup mongers' plan," Ortega said.

Source

• Crux Now
• Vatican News
• Crux Now
• Vatican News
• Image: Opennews24