Affected by the constant attacks on the church, the persecution, imprisonment and forced exile of many of the priests, in addition to the prohibition of traditional religious activities and the permanent surveillance of paramilitaries inside and around the temples, a large part of the Catholic parishioners have chosen to stop attending masses and other events.
Every time the parishes or Catholic temples in the majority of the 27 municipalities, including the churches in the main cities, of the departments of Nueva Segovia, Madriz and Estelí look empty during the customary morning masses, mainly on Sundays, for the absence of a large part of the Catholic Christians who no longer attend for fear of constant harassment and intimidation by the repressive organs of the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.
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«People have not stopped supporting the churches financially with contributions that come from their hearts, and they tell you that they are going to help but that they are not going to attend the masses or the activities that we carry out, such as fairs to raise funds, for fear of what is happening to our priests,” said one of the women in charge of religious events at the Catholic church in the indigenous municipality of San Lucas, in the department of Madriz, who did not want to reveal her identity to avoid reprisals.
The same is happening in the Catholic temple of the indigenous municipality of San José de Cusmapa, in Madriz, where fund-raising activities to improve the hermitage’s infrastructure have been suspended. “Here we planned to sell soups and used clothes to raise money, but no one in the rural communities wants to meet anymore, because people say that the police have warned them that if they hold events they will put them in jail, and they are not coming to the Masses,” said another parishioner who asked not to be named for fear that government officials would threaten her.
Priests suffer in silence
Nor do the priests dare to give statements or interviews, because they comment that they constantly receive threats from people from the regime. One of the parish priests of a municipality in the department of Nueva Segovia stated that he and other priests have already received threats of imprisonment directly from the police chiefs in those localities.
«We are cautious when giving the masses, because they are watched by people from the government party. Many people are also stopping attending the masses and even the meetings that used to be held to organize the first communions, church weddings, fairs to raise money for improvements to the temples and some processions typical of the municipality, “concluded saying one of the priests consulted under the commitment of anonymity.
Referential image/ Department of Masaya
The vast majority of Catholic Christians fear that some religious temples will close their doors in the north of the country, because several priests have already expressed their decision to have to leave the country in the face of persecution and threats of imprisonment. Also because they have serious problems to resolve economic commitments of churches, temples or parishes, because the regime ordered them to freeze all accounts.
«You have to pay monthly for water and electricity services, cleaning and maintenance personnel of the temples, in addition to food for the little fathers and their helpers. We must guarantee other needs, and then what are we Catholics doing, we support with a little bit of what we can to solve the needs and problems of our church”, ended by saying Don Alfredo Ramírez Medina, faithful Catholic of the municipality of Pueblo Nuevo, in the department of Estelí.
There are some temples that only open their doors for morning masses (5:00 am) and then close all day to open again until late afternoon, 5:00 pm to officiate mass.
By: United Voices.
