The dictatorial regime of Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega has closed down two Catholic universities and Caritas Nicaragua, a Catholic Church's aid organization that helped those most in need in the Central American country.

The relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and Ortega's oppressive regime has grown quite complicated. According to The Pillar, the Ortega government has seized the assets of the Universidad Juan Pablo II and the Universidad Cristiana Autonoma de Nicaragua (UCAN).

It has also shuttered the operations of these Church-run institutions as their legal status to operate in the country has also been rescinded.

The Nicaraguan government claimed that both universities have allegedly failed to comply with financial and governance reporting laws, adding that these educational institutions also did not file government information about their boards of directors or financial positions.

The Universidad Juan Pablo II rector, Fr. Ramiro Tijerino, was among those forcefully sent into exile to the United States and stripped of their Nicaraguan citizenship.

Martha Molina, a former professor at the University that was named after former Pope and now-Saint John Paul II, said: "Canceling the legal personality of the Universidad Juan Pablo II is not only an attack on the Catholic Church and the students. It is also an attack on the communities nearby the university who took their children to courses and to have a meal."

The Ortega regime has also ordered officials of both Catholic Universities to deliver lists of students, faculty, and academic records to the National Council of Universities, but human rights groups have cried foul over the act.

In recent years, the Ortega dictatorship has transitioned or merged 17 universities into public universities and installed government loyalists as administrators. Rights groups feared the same thing might happen to these Catholic-run institutions.

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Fear and Anxiety Among Nicaragua's Catholic Leaders Exiled Abroad

Catholic priests from Nicaragua have fled into exile in the United States or nearby Costa Rica. One of these priests is continuing the fight and has spoken on condition of anonymity with the Associated Press.

He said many other priests and nuns are afraid of reprisal from Daniel Ortega and fear going public with their stories. "There is persecution of the church because the church is the voice of the people," he told the news outlet.

Over 50 religious leaders have fled the Central American country since 2018, as Ortega believed the Catholic Church hid anti-government protesters during that year's massive protests.

His government has since cracked down on the Church, even expelling the Missionaries of Charity order founded by Mother Teresa.

Exiled Nicaraguan Bishop Responds to Daniel Ortega's Insults

While some are worried, a bishop that the Nicaraguan government exiled to the United States pushed back at the insults hurled directly at him by none other than Daniel Ortega himself. 

Silvio Báez, the exiled auxiliary bishop of Managua, called Ortega "corrupt and criminal," according to the Catholic News Agency.

Baez lamented, "How much ignorance, how many lies, and how much cynicism! A dictator giving democracy lessons." 

He added that the Nicaraguan president is "someone who exercises power illegitimately, criticizing the authority that Jesus granted to his Church; an atheist, corrupt and criminal, avowing he is inspired by Christ."

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This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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