Nicaragua Faithful Afraid as Daniel Ortega Regime Continues Crackdown Against Roman Catholic Church

By Rick Martin First Posted: Feb 12, 2024 10:41 PM EST

Despite being a majority Catholic country, Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega regime is cracking down on the Roman Catholic Church. This makes the faithful worried for their lives, as priests, bishops and lay faithful are either detained or exiled, and many are forced to flee the country.

Nicaragua recently exiled 19 priests from the country, handing them over to the Vatican. This happened amid reports of harassment of churchgoers and church desecrations. With the absence and persecution of the church, the situation for Catholic clergy and faithful in Nicaragua is reportedly worsening as rural areas now lack worship and social services, and more and more people are getting detained.

As the Associated Press noted, the Ortega regime is not just cracking down on Roman Catholics but also Evangelical Christians, as well as the free press and any form of criticism against Daniel Ortega or his wife, Vice President and First Lady Rosario Murillo.

"All the time, the silence gets deeper," Martha Patricia Molina, a Nicaraguan lawyer exiled in the United States, told the Associated Press.

She recorded hundreds of instances of church persecution in her home country, and this garnered her the International Religious Freedom Award from the US State Department.

"If it's dangerous to pray the rosary in the street, it is exceedingly so to report attacks," she added. "Many priests believe that if they make reports, there will be more reprisals against the communities. We as laypeople would like for them to speak, but the only alternatives are cemetery, prison, or exile."

Her reports recorded 30 church desecrations in the past year, with only a few being reported to authorities. Incidents also include victim blaming, with a priest reportedly being told he was a suspect and was cursed at by police after he reported a theft in his church.

The World Continues To Ignore Human Rights Crisis Happening Under Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua

Many, including the Vatican itself, have been trying to raise the alarm on what is happening in Nicaragua, which has basically cracked down on the Roman Catholic religion, as well as foreign missionaries, the opposition, and the press.

The Independent noted that many around the world are still unaware of the Ortega-Murillo regime's "purge" of the Catholic Church, as well as the human rights crisis happening in the country, with Ortega and Murillo being accused of perpetrating crimes against humanity.

Daniel Ortega Regime Confiscated a Home for Nuns and Turned It Into a Migration Office

The Ortega regime is currently confiscating Catholic-owned properties and using them for government purposes. This includes confiscating a home for nuns and turning it into a migration office, according to the Catholic News Agency.

Nuns from the Sisters of the Fraternity of the Poor Ones of Jesus Christ were expelled from the country, with the Nicaraguan government confiscating what used to be their home and turning it into the property of the Office of the Directorate of Migration and Immigration, which is part of the Ministry of the Interior.

"Sandinista dictatorship confiscates the property of the Sisters Poor of Jesus Christ who in July 2023 were expelled by the Sandinista dictatorship. Police remained inside, but now they have turned it into a state institution," prominent Ortega critic and lawyer Martha Patricia Molina revealed X. "They didn't even change the color of the walls or the furniture used by the dear nuns. The criminal Ministry of the Interior doing its thing."

She also warned that the government intends to confiscate more buildings belonging to religious institutions and repurpose them as government buildings.