MIAMI (AP) — Nineteen priests kicked out of the country, dozens of incidents of harassment and church desecrations, rural areas lacking worship and social services: the situation for Catholic clergy and faithful in Nicaragua is only worsening in 2024, according to exiled priests, laypeople in the Central American country and human rights advocates.The fear of the ongoing crackdown by President Daniel Ortega – on the Catholic Church in particular but not sparing evangelicals – has become so pervasive that it is silencing criticism of the authoritarian government and even mentions of the repression from the pulpit.
“All the time the silence gets deeper,” said Martha Patricia Molina, a Nicaraguan lawyer who fled to the United States. Her work recording hundreds of instances of church persecution recently won her an International Religious Freedom Award from the U.S. State Department.
“If it’s dangerous to pray the rosary in the street, it is exceedingly so to report attacks,” Molina said.
“Many priests believe that if they make reports, there will be more reprisals against the communities. We as laypeople would like for them to speak, but the only alternatives are cemetery, prison or exile.”
She counted 30 church desecrations in the past year, only a few reported to authorities. Recently, she heard of a priest who went to the police after a theft in his church – only to be cursed at and told he was a suspect. …
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“All the time the silence gets deeper,” said Martha Patricia Molina, a Nicaraguan lawyer who fled to the United States. Her work recording hundreds of instances of church persecution recently won her an International Religious Freedom Award from the U.S. State Department.
“If it’s dangerous to pray the rosary in the street, it is exceedingly so to report attacks,” Molina said.
“Many priests believe that if they make reports, there will be more reprisals against the communities. We as laypeople would like for them to speak, but the only alternatives are cemetery, prison or exile.”
She counted 30 church desecrations in the past year, only a few reported to authorities. Recently, she heard of a priest who went to the police after a theft in his church – only to be cursed at and told he was a suspect. …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]