The alarming religious persecution in Nicaragua accelerated for more than six years by the State places the country in the spotlight due to harassment, harassment and disrespect for the freedom to profess faith.
He Global Persecution Index 2025 presented its report this year in which it places Nicaragua as the nation in America where the various religious denominations are most cruelly attacked.
It is a grim picture in which government hostility towards believers has escalated significantly in the last year, the document reveals.
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«The persecution in Nicaragua has worsened drastically, with a notable increase in government hostility towards Christians,” he highlights. The situation of the Central American country is framed in other parallel realities such as India or Africa.
“In countries like IndiaHindu nationalism has intensified violence and discrimination against religious minorities, while in several regions of Africasuch as the Sahel, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Christians face brutal attacks and weekly displacement,” he adds.
The numbers of religious persecution
Since the beginning of the social protests in April 2018, Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo undertook an anti-religious crusade against bishops, priests, clergy and parishioners for seeking a national dialogue and offering churches as centers of refuge for citizens who demonstrated. demanding the departure of the presidential couple from power.
This “war” unleashed by the dictators has devastated the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua (CEN), reducing its clergy by half in a little more than six years. In addition, nearly a thousand direct attacks have been documented, which include desecration of temples, threats and attacks on priests, as well as the banishment and exile of more than 160 religious.
The sixth update of the report “Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church?”, prepared from exile by lawyer Martha Patricia Molina, revealed that between 2018 and 2024, the regime has perpetrated 971 documented attacks against the Catholic Church.
The most violent year was 2023, with 321 attacks, although Molina points out that 2024 has been even worse, since many religious did not report the attacks for fear of reprisals. Likewise, dozens of religious were exiled, among them, four bishops.
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The Global Persecution Index 2025 not only documents the crisis, but also calls for action, urging citizens of the world to unite in prayer, advocacy and support for persecuted Christians.
The growing repression in Nicaragua is a reminder that the fight for religious freedom is a global challenge. From that area, they call on the international community to pay attention to this crisis and act to protect the rights of those who face persecution for their faith.
