Father Edwing Román, one of the most critical religious voices against the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, criticized the fact that for the second consecutive year the Catholic Church was prohibited from procession of Jesus Sacramentado, in Managua, the one that took place every January first and was known as the procession of Christ the King.
The decision of the Nicaraguan regime was announced by Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes, on the morning of Thursday, December 29, at the end of the mass in the Metropolitan Cathedral.
Related news: Dictatorship prohibits procession of Jesus Sacramentado in Managua
After knowing the decision of Ortega and Murillo, the priest Román stated, through his Twitter account, that “the Nicaraguan dictatorship prohibits Catholics from one of our public manifestations of our faith, such as the procession to Christ the King, this 1st January 2023».
“The crowds are trembling carrying the flags of Nicaragua and the Church,” said the former parish priest of the San Miguel Church, in Masaya, who in response to the dictatorship said: “well, there you go: LONG LIVE CHRIST THE KING!”
On January 1 of this year, the Catholic Church of Nicaragua had to celebrate the procession of Jesus in the Sacrament inside the Metropolitan Cathedral, then increased the repression against priests, imprisoning at least 12 and charging them with common crimes or for alleged treason against the homeland. .
This 2023 will start in the same way. Dictators Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo are prohibiting parishioners from religious demonstrations that have been held in the country for decades.
A “dismal” year for the Catholic Church in Nicaragua
For the lawyer and researcher Martha Patricia Molinathis 2022 was the “most disastrous for the Nicaraguan Catholic Church” to receive from the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega 140 attacks.
Among the most relevant hostilities, the lawyer highlighted “unfair” criminal proceedings against priests, who were not attached to what the laws of the country mandate.
Related news: Ortega executed 140 attacks against the Catholic Church in 2022
To the onslaught of the dictatorship against bishops, priests, deacons, religious and laity, Molina added confiscations, kidnappings, hate speech, impediment to freedom of movement, closure of religious Non-Profit Organizations and the media. religious, deportations, exiles, expulsions, desecrations, robberies, sieges, threats and prohibition to carry out processions.
The jurist affirmed that the increase in attacks on the Nicaraguan Catholic Church is due to the fact that the religious authority “continues firm in its faith and principles, preaching the Gospel, which is in itself an announcement and denunciation of the arbitrariness of the powerful in power . The dictatorship has been incessant and does not give respite to the prelates.
At the end of October 2022, Martha Patricia Molina presented the second delivery of Nicaragua: “A persecuted church?” who recorded 96 attacks against the Catholic Church in four years of repression and an end-of-year update reporting a total of 410 assaults.
According to the researcher, the repression against the Catholic Church is expected to increase, causing more sieges, kidnappings, desecration and impeding freedom of worship.
