COUNTRY PROFILE NICARAGUA
SELECTED INCIDENTS FEBRUARY 2023 Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa was sentenced – without trial – to 26 years in prison and stripped of his citizenship for his criticism of the government, 153 after initially being placed under house arrest. 154 MARCH 2023 The government canceled the legal status of multiple Catholic institutions and organizations, including John Paul II University, Caritas Nicaragua, Immaculate Conception Catholic University, and Santa Luisa de Marillac Technical Institute. 155 AUGUST 2023 The government ordered the confiscation of all assets belonging to the Jesuit-run University of Central America in Managua. Six Jesuit priests were subsequently evicted from their private residence in Managua, despite providing documentation to prove that the house did not belong to the university. On Wednesday the 23 rd , the Ministry of Interior canceled the Jesuit religious community’s legal status and transferred all of its assets in Nicaragua to the government. 156 OCTOBER 2023 The Nicaraguan regime released 12 Catholic priests from prison and sent them into exile in Rome after reaching an agreement with the Vatican. The government justified the move in a statement saying that the decision demonstrated “the permanent will and commitment to find solutions” to the tensions between Nicaragua and the Vatican. 157 JANUARY 2024 The government expelled 19 representatives of the Catholic Church – Bishop Álvarez, Bishop Isidoro de Carmen Mora Ortega of Siuna, 15 priests, and two seminarians – to the Vatican, forcing them into exile. All the men had been imprisoned in Nicaragua prior to their expulsion from the country. 158
Religious freedom violations in Nicaragua have been escalating over the past two years. The government under President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo has intensified its efforts to suppress the Catholic Church by expelling clergy, forcing Church- run organizations to close, and restricting religious activities. 141 The Ortega-Murillo regime has canceled the legal status of numerous Church-affiliated institutions 142 and religious communities, and confiscated their property. 143 It has also shut down Catholic media outlets and banned religious celebrations in public spaces. 144 President Ortega has even verbally attacked the Catholic Church during a public speech. 145 Dozens of bishops, priests, and seminarians were arrested, imprisoned, and forced into exile in 2023 and 2024. 146 There is increasing surveillance of Catholic parishes, 147 and government agents routinely harass and intimidate clergy and worshipers. 148 Church personnel who publicly defend human rights or criticize the government can face threats, physical violence, and detention. 149 Religious services and events are closely monitored, putting pressure on clergy and the faithful to practice self-censorship. 150 The regime has also banned the public observance of Catholic traditions, such as street processions during Holy Week. 151 The government suspended all diplomatic ties with the Holy See and forced its nunciature in Nicaragua to close. The last Vatican diplomat – Monsignor Marcel Diouf, chargé d’affaires of the apostolic nunciature in Nicaragua – left the country in 2023.
. 152
28 Persecuted and Forgotten?
Powered by FlippingBook