“A deep pain invades us”: missionaries expelled from Nicaragua

With regret and moved to tears, the 18 Missionaries of Charity of the Mother Teresa of Calcutta order expelled from Nicaragua, regretted that the government of that country put an end to the work they carried out for more than 30 years for the benefit of the most vulnerable .

At a welcoming ceremony in San José, Costa Rica, the missionaries each received a bouquet of roses from parishioners.

The Sisters of Charity, of the order of María Teresa de Calcutta were received in Costa Rica, after being expelled from Nicaragua by the administration of Daniel Ortega

The Sister of Providence”Agnesitha” spoke on behalf of the rest of the nuns and recounted the work in the Central American country, which abruptly ceased after the recent cancellation of the legal personality under which they operated in the country, for alleged breaches of the current rules.

“In Nicaragua we had three communities, two in Managua and the other in Granada. In Managua our activity was carried out taking care of a home for the elderly, a nursery, a kitchen for the disadvantaged. We also assist 235 families with basic monthly baskets and spiritual accompaniment and catechesis, helping neighboring parishes”, he stressed.

The nun also explained that in the city of Granada, located south of Managua, they cared for low-income youth and children who were supported to continue their studies.

“Agnesitha” mentioned that in Granada there was a space set up for children and a dining room for the most needy, who were also provided with a basic basket and catechism on a monthly basis.

“We helped those who needed medicine and financial support, university students with limited resources, care for prisoners, we visited villages,” said the nun.

“When we are expelled from Nicaragua, we are invaded by a deep pain of having to leave the most needy people and the Marian people,” he said.

Secrecy after cancellation

The Nicaraguan government canceled the legal status of 100 NGOs on June 29, including the Missionaries of Charity Association, founded by Mother Teresa of Calcutta in 1988. According to the government, all of them operated in the midst of certain illegalities.

In the case of the missionaries, the pro-government deputies argued that the group was not accredited by the Ministry of the Family to function as a nursery, a child development center, a girls’ home, or an old people’s home.

They also indicated that they do not have an operating permit from the Ministry of Education for educational tasks, such as learning reinforcement.

Another official argument alluded to the fact that the financial statements reported to the Ministry of the Interior —which is the entity that regulates NGOs— supposedly do not coincide with the documents presented.

the press denounces “hunting” against its employees

The Ortega government has not made a statement so far. However the newspaper La Prensa denounced what he described as “a hunt against his staff: drivers, photographers and reporters” in charge of coverage.

The newspaper’s press release also indicated that two workers “were kidnapped and it is presumed that they are in the cells of the new Chipote.”

“[La] The persecution was directed at the team that covered the expulsion of the Missionaries of Charity from Nicaragua by the Ortega regime. The driver who mobilized the journalistic team was kidnapped from his family’s house at nightfall on Wednesday, ”the text indicated.

“Police patrols arrived at the house of the reporter who covered the issue and the house of a photographer was raided during the early morning,” he added. The Press.

The Church in Costa Rica expresses solidarity with Nicaragua

Monsignor Rafael Quirós, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of San José in Costa Rica, in charge of the mass attended by the nuns, expressed words of “solidarity, encouragement and closeness” to the situation of the church in Nicaragua.

“We feel close to the church and to all the brothers who suffer in Nicaragua and the world… it gives us a feeling of closeness, of love and we know that the Lord does not abandon anyone,” the Costa Rican bishop told the Voice of America.

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