The Nicaraguan National Police prohibited two Catholic processions and the commemoration of the 453rd anniversary of the translation of the Bible into Spanish in some parts of the country, religious sources reported Thursday.
In the case of the Catholic Church, the parishes dedicated to San Miguel Arcángel, in Managua, and San Francisco de Asís, in Camoapa (center), reported that they will not be able to celebrate the processions in honor of the venerated image, due to a prohibition by part of the authorities.
Meanwhile, the National Council of Evangelical Pastors in the city of Nagarote, in León, warned about the prohibition of the celebration dedicated to the translation of the Bible.
“We received notification from the police authorities that it is not allowed to carry out any activity outside the parish,” explained the San Miguel de Arcángel church, in Managua, on its Facebook account, the means of communication used by the Catholic Church in Nicaragua after the closure of at least eleven radio stations and three television stations, and the blocking of the broadcast of the Catholic Channel.
That church was scheduled to celebrate this Friday a procession with the saint through the sectors surrounding the parish, but it “was suspended and everything will take place inside the parish church,” he said.
The Parish Council of the San Francisco de Asís temple in Camoapa, a central city located 113 kilometers from Managua, informed local media of a similar situation to its counterpart in the capital.
Safety reasons
For their part, the regents of the evangelical faith issued a statement in which they stated that “due to the guidelines of the civil authorities, the 453rd anniversary of the Translation of the Bible in Spanish will not be celebrated, they state that the reason is the safety of the participants”.
Similar situations were experienced by the parishes of San Miguel Arcángel and San Jerónimo this week in the city of Masaya, where the National Police, whose supreme chief is President Daniel Ortega, prohibited religious celebrations outside Catholic temples.
Both Catholic and Evangelical religious leaders decided to accept the official prohibitions and recommended their faithful to carry out their activities inside their temples.
“We invite each one of you to hold your celebrations in your temples, raise prayers to God so that we can live quietly and peacefully,” highlighted the National Council of Evangelical Pastors in Nagarote.
The religious prohibitions come amid the latest chapter in a history of confrontations between Ortega and the Catholic Church that dates back 43 years, and that until now had not touched the evangelical faith.
According to official data, the Catholic religion is the most followed in Nicaragua, with 58.8% of its 6.6 million inhabitants, followed by the Evangelical, with 38%, although Evangelicals maintain that their proportion has grown in recent years.
