Martha Patricia Molina, a lawyer and researcher, has denounced the Nicaraguan dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo, for banishing a group of foreign priests and nuns who were working in the country. According to Molina, the religious leaders were summoned to meetings where they were shown an indoctrination video and threatened with imprisonment or exile if they spoke out against the regime.
Molina, author of the report “Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church?”, has documented 870 attacks by the Nicaraguan dictatorship against the Catholic Church. She revealed that some of the exiled religious leaders were prohibited from speaking out, while others remaining in the country faced constant threats.
The crackdown on the Catholic Church has also seen the closure of 1,500 non-profit organizations, including hundreds of Catholic and evangelical groups. The priests’ retirement fund, which had existed for 24 years, was frozen last year and recently closed, leaving sick and retired priests without support.
Molina described the actions of the dictatorship as “theft” and “repression”, aimed at suffocating the Catholic Church. The regime has also approved taxes on property and alms, further straining the Church’s resources. Despite the attacks, Molina noted that the faith and Catholic religion remain strong in Nicaragua, which is what the dictatorship seeks to eliminate.