In the second part of a report called, ‘Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church?’, data collected between April 2018 and October 2022 shows that the Church has been the victim of almost 400 attacks.
Newsroom (20/11/2022 18:00, Gaudium Press) A little research on the events in Nicaragua shows that in 2018, the population held serious protests following the government’s decision to reduce pensions by 5% and increase taxes on businesses. Police violence left more than 300 dead and 2,000 injured, who, by government order could not be treated in hospitals. The Daughters of Charity’s health clinics were the only places that attended to the injured, this being the main reason why the Ortega government decided to expel them from the country in June of 2022.
Furthermore, it should be added, that in the face of government repression, many demonstrators were only able to find refuge in churches, where priests opened the doors of their parishes to them.
Thus, “after that date, hostilities increased and rose in tone. The offensive and threatening language of the presidential couple against the Catholic Hierarchy became increasingly evident and frequent, and the actions of some public institutions against the Church’s charitable work increased,” as pointed out in the report by Nicaraguan lawyer Martha Patricia Molina, entitled ‘Nicaragua: a Persecuted Church?’ (2018-2022).
The Catholic Church in Nicaragua has suffered 396 attacks. Information indicates that 127 attacks were recorded in 2022, while in 2021 there were 54. However, Martha Patricia Molina’s report indicates that the study’s figures would be well below the real ones, in fact, it points out that this number would probably have to be multiplied by ten, due to the few reports and the lack of disclosure of them. “We found cases where priests, tired of the thefts and desecrations, decided to report only the last of them. Others have chosen to remain silent because they do not believe in Nicaragua’s judicial system,” the study says.
If the priest does not keep silent about the situation in the country, the faithful are forbidden to enter the churches. In this way, the authorities try to put pressure on priests not to report the abuses committed. This situation has generated more than 150,000 refugees, most of whom have fled to neighbouring Costa Rica. Even as many as 50 Nicaraguan priests have asked for asylum in Honduras and Costa Rica, because they fear for their safety after police regularly searched their parishes several days a week in order to detain or threaten them.
Compiled by Sandra Chisholm
