The Nicaraguan government has stripped more than 25 Catholic organizations of their legal personality as part of an attack on civil society by closing 1,500 non-governmental organizations. These include religious orders such as the Franciscans, Carmelites and Augustinians, another Caritas branch in the diocese, and Catholic lay groups.
The closures, announced by the Interior Ministry on August 19, targeted religious and civic groups, from the Protestant Church to the Rotary Club, agricultural producers’ associations and even the national chess federation.
A source familiar with Nicaragua described the August 19 actions as “an extraordinary attempt by the Nicaraguan state to crush nongovernmental organizations throughout Nicaraguan society.”
Attacks by the increasingly totalitarian regime of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, further destroyed public spaces beyond their control and further undermined religious freedom.
The regime has closed at least 5,000 non-governmental organizations and silenced independent media since 2018 as protesters took to the streets to demand the president’s ouster – and were met with violence from police and paramilitaries.
The closures on August 19 particularly affected Protestant congregations, many of which were described by independent media as modest.
Catholic organizations also continued to be attacked. The religious orders that were dissolved included the Capuchin Friars Minor, the Carmelites of the Divine Heart of Jesus, the Augustinian monks and nuns, the Mercedarian Missionaries of Berriz, the Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance (also known as the Trappist Sisters), and the Brothers of Mercy.
Two Salesian ministries were dissolved: the Association of Salesian Co-workers and the Association of Salesian Women. Other Catholic organizations that lost their legal personality were the Lumen Christi Catechist Missionaries, the Saint Pio Foundation and the Association of Basic Christian Communities.
The Caritas branch in the diocese of Granada was also closed. The closure followed the closure on August 12 of the Caritas branch in the diocese of Matagalpa, which was headed by exiled Bishop Rolando Álvarez. The source who spoke to OSV News described the attacks on the Caritas branches as an attack, since the regime “does not want anyone other than the state or someone it considers reliable to provide services to citizens.”
The Interior Ministry claimed that the 1,500 NGO groups that lost their registration had not properly reported their finances “for a period of between one and 35 years” and that this had “hampered control and supervision” of these organizations. The Nicaraguan state is effectively confiscating the assets of non-governmental organizations that lose their legal personality.
The closure of so many churches and church organizations – both Protestant and Catholic – underscored the repression of religious life under the Sandinista regime.
An August 19 statement by the Interamerican Legal Assistance Center for Human Rights described evangelical churches as “the last places where Nicaraguans can meet freely. As a result, the remaining NGOs exercise their freedom of association only to a minimal extent.” Human rights group Colectivo Nicaragua Nunca Más reported that at least 21 evangelical pastors were exiled, while three were denied re-entry into the country. It counted the legal dissolution of some 420 Christian organizations.
Until recently, Nicaragua’s evangelical communities were considered less outspoken and did not attract the wrath of the regime.
According to sources, Catholic churches have long been spied on, with priests even being forced to watch their words during sermons. The regime has also banned expressions of faith, closed Catholic media, cancelled church charitable projects and banned processions and patronal celebrations outside church premises.
Martha Patricia Molina, an exiled lawyer who tracks aggression against Nicaragua’s Catholic Church, counted 9,688 attempts to prevent processions and religious activities since April 2018. Her latest report on the persecution of the Church was released on August 15 and documents 154 bishops, priests, deacons, seminarians and 91 nuns who are unable to work in Nicaragua because they fled the country, were forcibly exiled or were simply denied re-entry after traveling abroad.
Since 2018, according to Molina’s report, nearly 250 priests, nuns, bishops and other members of the Catholic Church have been expelled from the country – three bishops and 136 priests were expelled and ended up either in the United States or the Vatican.
At least 14 Catholic laypeople are currently imprisoned for religious reasons, Molina told the news channel Confidencial. Other shortages have decimated dioceses such as Matagalpa and Estelí – both headed by Bishop Álvarez – as well as the diocese of Siuna, from which Bishop Isidoro Mora has been exiled. Both Bishops Álvarez and Mora were exiled to the Vatican in January along with 17 other churchmen.
The diocese of Matagalpa has lost more than 80% of its priests, according to Molina, while the dioceses of Estelí and Siuna have suffered significant losses of clergy.
“Since there are no priests in the area, lay people take on certain tasks, such as celebrating the Word or visiting the sick to bring them Communion,” says Molina.
The cancellation of 1,500 NGOs came in the wake of the exile of two other priests to the Vatican. According to independent Nicaraguan media, priests Leonel Balmaceda and Denis Martínez were sent to Rome on August 17.
The Society of Jesus, which was expelled from Nicaragua in 2023, issued a statement on the one-year anniversary of the seizure of its prestigious Central American University and its subsequent reopening as a Sandinista-aligned institution, calling on the government to “end repression, stop systematic human rights violations and release political prisoners.”
The August 15 statement by the Central American Province of the Jesuits further calls on the government to “accept the search for a rational solution in which truth, justice, dialogue, academic freedom and the rule of law prevail.”
