The persecution against the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, by the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, has intensified in the last five years. In 2022 and at the end of the first semester of this year, the religious institution has been the object of an economic attack by the presidential couple.
The actions of the regime against the Church, in addition to arrests of its priests, range from confiscations to universities, schools, closure of the media, nursing homes; as well as accusations of money laundering and freezing of accounts of the eight Dioceses of the country.
Related news: The six sinister actions of Daniel Ortega against the Catholic Church in Nicaragua
In 2022, the repressive wave against the Catholic Church media began; In the first days of August of that year, the Ortega regime closed en bloc 10 stations that belonged to the Diocese of Matagalpa, directed by Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, current political prisoner.
The stations linked to Catholicism that were closed, by order of the dictator Daniel Ortega, were Radio Hermanos, Radio Santa Lucía, from Ciudad Darío; Radio Católica, from Sébaco; Radio Nuestra Señora de Lourdes, from La Dalia; Radio Nuestra Señora de Fátima, from Rancho Grande; Radio San José, from Matiguás; Radio Monte Carmelo, from Río Blanco; Radio Alliens, from San Dionisio; Radio Esquipulas and Radio Católica, from Waslala.
Through the Nicaraguan Institute of Telecommunications and Post Office (Telcor), the Ortega administration ordered the closure of these means of communication, alleging that they were operating illegally, or simply inventing some crime.
For the lawyer and expert on religious issues Martha Patricia Molina, Ortega’s objective is to put an end to the evangelization project that the church has. “They expected the Eucharistic celebrations to end but it did not. The church will always find new mechanisms to evangelize”, he affirmed to Article 66.
Closure of Catholic universities and charitable institutions
After the closure of the media, the dictatorship continued its advance against Catholic universities, shelters and nursing homes, under the justification that they were headless or did not meet the requirements to work.
Related news: Ortega dissolves Cáritas Nicaragua and closes two Catholic universities
Between December 13, 2021 and May 18, 2023, Nicaraguan youth have lost around 30 options to choose higher education centers, due to the cancellation of the study houses.
Of the total number of universities closed by the Ministry of the Interior (Migob), there are Catholic universities, among which are the Juan Pablo II University, the Autonomous Christian University of Nicaragua (UCAN) and the Catholic Agricultural University of the Dry Tropics (Ucatse).
In addition, the guillotine was passed to the Association of Parish Schools of the Diocese of Estelí, Diocesan Caritas of Estelí, Father Fabretto Family, Association of the Justice Commission of the Diocese of Estelí, Association of the Cultural Center of the North of the Diocese of Estelí.
Not content with this, the dictatorship continued its attack against the orders of nuns that were in the country. In July 2022, he expelled the sisters of charity from the order of Mother Teresa of Calculta. He also expelled and confiscated property —in 2013— from the Trappist Sisters and the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of the Anunciata.
money laundering accusation
The economic suffocation against the religious authority continued in May of this year, when the Ortega Police accused the money laundering crime to the Catholic Church of Nicaragua to justify the freezing of accounts in the eight dioceses of the country.
Added to this, the regime ordered Nicaraguan banking entities to freeze personal accounts of several priests from different dioceses of the country, as reported by lawyer Martha Patricia Molina, through her Twitter account.
Related news: Dictatorship accuses the Catholic Church of money laundering to justify the freezing of bank accounts
The lawyer said that those affected belong to the Diocese of Granada, Estelí, Jinotega and León; and that this measure could be implemented in the next few hours against more priests and lay people who collaborate directly with the parishes.
A priest, exiled in the United States, expressed that despite the accusations against the Catholic Church, the Ortega justice has not provided evidence of the alleged crime.
“The regime has accused but has not proven the veracity of its investigations. From there we realize that Ortega accuses, denounces and sentences but does not give evidence, therefore that is not justice, he affirmed.
He also added that he is facing a dictatorship that “does not care about doing anything against the Church. He has his puppets and what they do is ridiculous that rather offends human reason.
Related news: Ortega orders banks to freeze the personal accounts of Nicaraguan priests
“As the Pope said, these attitudes are ridiculous because he accuses of serious crimes and they have no proof, so in this country no one is safe because there is justice only for one family – Ortega and Murillo – he stressed.
After the accusation against the Church, the dictatorship has maintained silence on the issue in recent weeks, however the repression continues, the siege against religious temples and the expulsion of religious men and women.
