Managua: The Catholic Church is again under the dictatorship of the Daniel Ortega regime in Nicaragua. The dictator, accusing the church and church leaders of being a “mafia,” banned the Way of the Cross in public places that same week.
Local media reports that the government has ordered the banning of the Way of the Cross in the country during Lent and Holy Week.
Even on Good Friday, the Way of the Cross is banned, according to Latin American media reports. After Mass on Vibhuti Wednesday, the Managua native told the media ‘La Prensa’ that the police arrived with the argument that the way of the cross was not allowed for security reasons.
Father Winder Morales of the Diocese of Granada said that the Way of the Cross, which is traditionally done on Fridays in Lent, will only be possible this time around the cathedral. This past Friday, February 24, hundreds of believers participated in the Way of the Cross around the Managua Cathedral.
Last year, the Ortega administration also banned Marian processions organized on the feast of the Nativity of the Mother of God.
In April 2018, public anger and protests against changes in the social security system spread across the country and 355 people lost their lives after the government took strict measures to suppress the protests. The main reason why the Catholic Church has become the draft before the government is that it protested the most strongly.
In addition to the expulsion of Nicaragua’s apostolic representative, Bishop Waldemar Stanislo, Matagalpa Bishop Rolando Alvarez was recently placed under house arrest and eventually sentenced to 26 years in prison.
Many Catholic media outlets were closed, and many communities were exiled, including the nuns who were members of the Missionaries of Charity community founded by Saint Mother Teresa.
In a speech last week marking the 89th anniversary of the assassination of Nicaraguan national hero Augusto Sandino, President Ortega lashed out at the Catholic Church.
Between April 2018 and October 2022, the Nicaraguan government reportedly carried out 396 attacks against the country’s Catholic Church. Daniel Ortega has been the president of the country for over 16 years since January 2007.
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