Relations between the Nicaraguan government, presided over by Daniel Ortega, and the Catholic Church, as well as with other countries and international organizations, are going through a time of great tension, which has worsened in recent months.
Pope Francis referred to this, in an exceptional way, last August 25, when, before leaving on a trip to Southeast Asia and Oceania, he stated in the Angelus in St. Peter's Square: "To the beloved people of Nicaragua: I encourage you to renew your hope in Jesus. Remember that the Holy Spirit always guides history towards higher projects. May the Immaculate Virgin protect you in moments of trial and make you feel her maternal tenderness. May Our Lady accompany the beloved people of Nicaragua".
In the Nicaraguan rainy season, summer in Europe, and so far in 2024, the tension has been reflected in controversial decisions by the government of Daniel Ortega, perhaps also influenced by the nearby Venezuelan country, which have led him to break off relations with Brazil, for example.
Diplomatic relations with Brazil and the Vatican severed
In fact, two days after the Pope's words, on August 27th, Ortega qualified Lula da Silva, his Brazilian counterpart, as "dragged" for his critical position regarding the official result of the Venezuelan elections, during a virtual summit with heads of state of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA).
Also with the Vatican diplomatic relations are broken, since 2022, when Archbishop Waldemar Sommertag, apostolic nuncio, was expelled from the country in a decision that the Holy See described as "inexplicable". "Inexplicable, but not unexpected, considering that in the previous months Ortega had already given a strong diplomatic signal. Indeed, the representative of the Holy See is always, by international convention, the dean of the Diplomatic Corps accredited in a country. But Ortega had decided that no, there would no longer be a dean, effectively marginalizing the Holy See's diplomat", he explained in Omnes Andrea Gagliarducci.
As one of the sources consulted, who lives in Miami, told this newspaper, "there is no apostolic nuncio at this moment in Nicaragua. The last one was removed, and that is on purpose. It is not so much that they are against the Pope, but that the apostolic nuncio is one more piece they have to take care of, and they prefer not to have to take care of him. The same thing happened with the Brazilian ambassador, for a stupid reason, that he did not go to an anniversary celebration".
Expulsions and cancellation of NGOs
Almost at the same time, the Ortega government legally cancelled numerous non-governmental organizations (NGOs), of Catholic inspiration and also evangelical in this case, for various reasons, up to 5,600 dissolved according to several analysts, including a Catholic pension and insurance fund for elderly priests.
On the other hand, there have been some notorious facts, such as the dissolution The Jesuits issued a communiqué condemning the aggression and pointing out that these acts are aimed at "the full establishment of a totalitarian regime". Or the expulsion of bishops, priests and seminarians, and of congregations such as the Missionaries of Charity of St. Teresa of Calcutta, welcomed in Costa Rica.
Bishops and priests to Rome
Among those expelled is Nicaraguan prelate Rolando Álvarez (Matagalpa), sentenced in February 2023 to more than 26 years in prison for crimes considered treason, released from prison in January of this year and sent together with another bishop, Isidoro Mora (Siuna), 13 priests and 3 seminarians to the Vatican in Rome, according to Bishop Silvio Báez from Miami.
Indeed, Rolando Alvarez reappeared in June in Seville with Archbishop José Ángel Saiz Meneses, who explained through social networks that the Nicaraguan bishop was making a courtesy and rest visit to his archbishopric, without specifying the date.
Báez, for his part, invited Catholics to thank "Pope Francis for his interest, his closeness and affection for Nicaragua, and for the effectiveness of Vatican diplomacy (...). Thanks to the Lord and the Holy See we celebrate this great joy today," he said.
The government of Nicaragua declared that "this agreement reached with the intercession of the high authorities of the Catholic Church of Nicaragua and the Vatican represents the will and permanent commitment to find solutions, recognizing and encouraging the faith and hope that always animate the Nicaraguan believers, who are the majority".
Complaints from agencies
Various international organizations have taken a position on these and other events. For example, the United Nations Office for Human Rights noted in June of last year an intensification in Nicaragua of the persecution of members of the Catholic Church, "as part of the deterioration of freedoms in the country and of the increasing restrictions on civic space," it reported. Efe.
The UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nada Al-Nashif, a Jordanian national, denounced this situation and called on the regime of Daniel Ortega to "stop its persecution of the Church and civil society" in an updated report on Nicaragua to the United Nations Human Rights Council. He also recalled the country's lack of participation in the UN human rights mechanisms. report The UN, which highlights continued violations of human rights and erosion of civic and democratic spaces.
Controversies
However, in February of this year, Nicaragua disqualified the latest UN investigations on human rights in its country, which have denounced the repression of the government presided over by Daniel Ortega, because "the reports of these groups that call themselves experts on human rights" are "criteria manipulated by a group of people who are financed precisely to distort the reality of our country".
On the other hand, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has been reporting that religious freedom in Nicaragua continues to worsen, and has demanded that the government "cease attacks on religious freedom, the persecution of the Catholic Church and release all persons arbitrarily deprived of their freedom".
Now, the Nicaraguan lawyer exiled in the United States, and author of the study Martha Patricia Molina, 'Nicaragua Church Persecuted', assures Omnes that "the Nicaraguan dictatorship has attacked the Catholic Church in different ways on more than 870 occasions".
Some conciliatory statement
According to media Central American, this year's Holy Week celebrations in Nicaragua have taken place "under severe restrictions by the Sandinista regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo". Attorney Molina has estimated that more than four thousand processions were cancelled in the country as a result of last year's ban on public religious activities, including traditional processions.
The Archbishop of Managua, Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes, held Palm Sunday celebrations in the grounds of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Managua. The vice-president and spokesperson of the government, Rosario Murillo, had personally told the cardinal, during a televised address at the beginning of March, that "the days of chimes and broken glass were behind us.". However, the repression continued to manifest itself, the media reported.
