The mainstream media rarely discusses how Christians are increasingly being silenced by the Ortega-Murillo regime, with active efforts to discredit followers of Christ who speak out against injustice in Nicaragua.
Catholics in particular have faced continual threats, censorship, imprisonment, physical violence, and forced exile.
President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, have intensified surveillance and tactics to harass Christians and target church property to stifle and intimidate those perceived as threats to their authority.
Attacks against the Catholic Church
“Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church”, recently published by Martha Patricia Molina, a Nicaraguan lawyer in exile, exposes the real reason why only 32 attacks on the Catholic Church in 2025 have been reported so far.
“Clerics cannot denounce abuses under any circumstance,” Molina said. “The threats are clear: whoever speaks is imprisoned or expelled.”
The findings in her seventh report of the Spanish-language report show that since April 2018, the Church has suffered 1,010 acts of aggression, and over 16,500 processions and religious activities have been prohibited.
She describes how the government has increased its efforts to harass and intimidate worshippers, as Molina explains through “confiscations, frozen bank accounts, punitive taxation, and relentless propaganda.”
Since 2018, the Catholic Church has increasingly been targeted by the Ortega-Murillo regime, primarily when churches provided shelter to student protesters fleeing police brutality during mass protests in the streets.
Molina also mentioned that 302 clergy and religious individuals have either been exiled, denied entry to return to their country, or have fled. Although she noted the number could be higher, as many cases go unreported.
Along with ongoing cases of detentions and disappearances, many involve church leaders, as well as the further suppression of the Catholic media to restrict their voice.
Political prisoners
The Sandinista National Liberation Front (SNLF) and the Nicaraguan government’s crackdown on religious groups have increasingly led to the arrest of many Christian political prisoners, who previously reported dehumanising and violent treatment by police officers during interrogation.
Dr. Carlos Cárdenas Zepeda, a lawyer and Roman Catholic lay leader, was the second political prisoner to die in state custody during the last week of August, following political activist Mauricio Alonso Prieto.
Both families were informed of their loved one’s death, although they weren’t told the cause or the circumstances surrounding it. There is evidence that the government is both concealing abuse and failing to hold those responsible for human rights violations accountable.
Religious freedom
Earlier this year, a report titled “Total Control: The Eradication of Independent Voices in Nicaragua” documented that in 2024, there were 222 cases of violations of religious freedom, involving thousands of people.
CSW reports several restrictions on religious activities. This includes religious leaders being required to report to the police weekly, and sharing details of their services, as well as facing numerous limitations on church activities.
Hopes for the Church
On Aug 23rd, Pope Leo XIV met and spoke at length to three Nicaraguan bishops in exile at the Vatican about Nicaragua and the situation of the Church in particular.
Father Edwin Román, who has been the parochial vicar at St. Agatha Parish in Miami for four years since leaving Nicaragua to go into exile for criticising the dictatorship, explains how hope is still not lost.
“The Catholic faithful haven’t stopped going to Mass, filling their churches during Holy Week, the feast day of [the parish’s] patron saint, and Sundays. People continue to pray and have not lost hope for better times.”
Despite the danger, Christians remain steadfast in their faith, speaking out against the injustices faced by people in Nicaragua while maintaining a significant influence in the country and working towards peace. The international community must support them and pray for continued encouragement and strength.
The resilience, courage, and undeniable faith of individual Christians and the Church in Nicaragua remain strong.
Photo by aboodi vesakaran on Unsplash
