The Ortega Murillo dictatorship’s hunt against the Catholic Church in Nicaragua is once again reflected in the figures. The lawyer Martha Patricia Molina, through the fifth installment of her systematization “Nicaragua: A persecuted Church?”, presented virtually on August 15, revealed that from April 2018 to July 2024, the Nicaraguan regime has perpetrated 870 attacks against the Nicaraguan Catholic Church.
The researcher and human rights defender pointed out that the attacks included the forced exile of 245 priests, nuns, seminarians, deacons and bishops.
He also explained that among the 245 people who left Nicaragua, there were 46 exiles ordered by the Ortega Murillo dictatorship against priests, bishops and seminarians; 90 expulsions, 81 of which were of nuns; 44 prohibitions of entry, 10 of which were of nuns; and 65 forced exiles.
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Between January and July of this year, the Nicaraguan lawyer explained, 50 such departures were recorded, corresponding to exiles, banishments, expulsions and entry bans against priests, bishops, seminarians and nuns.
Recorded attacks
Molina said that in the last five years, 870 hostilities or attacks against the Catholic Church have been documented, detailing that these corresponded to 92 in 2018; 88 in 2019; 64 in 2020; 56 in 2021; 171 in 2022; 307 in 2023; and 92 from January to July 2024.
He reported that, in addition to the 92 attacks that were documented between January and July, they also keep records of several attacks that occurred in the first days of August, which is why, he regretted, this year could end “the same or worse” than 2023.
One of the most recent attacks, the expert recalled, was the desecration of the tabernacle of the Monte San Juan Parish, of the Diocese of Granada, which was reported on August 13 on the social networks of that religious headquarters, but, according to lay people she consulted, it was deleted after the police siege and pressure they suffered for said publication.
Molina stressed that this year they have documented at least 15 profanations, which the parishes have decided not to publish precisely for fear of the repression that the Ortega regime could unleash. This month, it is worth mentioning, also saw the exile of seven priests, who the regime sent to Rome after keeping them in “seminary prison.”
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Ombudsman Molina stressed that the religious freedom of thousands of Nicaraguans has also been violated in the country, as her study reveals that from April 2018 to July 2024, 9,688 religious processions and activities have been prohibited by the National Police.
“The police have threatened bishops and priests, telling them that they have to carry out their activities within the churches, within their parishes (…) The threats they make are that if they do not pay attention, they will imprison the priests in charge of those parishes,” Molina denounced.
The attacks included a total of 72 hate messages spread by dictators Ortega and Murillo, 56 desecrations, 39 robberies and 14 graffiti on religious buildings, the confiscation of 19 properties and the closure of 19 media outlets linked to the Catholic Church, recorded between April 2018 and July 2024.
Martha Patria Molina stressed that all these figures are just a sample of the persecution suffered by the Catholic Church in Nicaragua.
