In recent months, Nicaragua’s government has escalated its effort to silence dissent by waging a systematic campaign of repression against the Catholic Church. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo’s crackdown on clergy and church-affiliated organizations critical of their authoritarian regime not only threatens Nicaragua’s religious freedom but also erects significant roadblocks to the country’s return to peace and democracy.
WASHINGTON - As threats to the Catholic Church in Nicaragua grow amidst the local social and political crisis, Bishop David J. Malloy of Rockford, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on International Justice and Peace, issued the following statement:"In 2018, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio travelled to Nicaragua to express USCCB s solidarity with our brother bishops in that country. In his homily at the Cathedral of Managua he memorably said, I see the commitment of your bishops as a sign of God s love. In the last few weeks, the Nicaraguan bishops have, once again, heroically demonstrated the enduring validity of that sentiment."In light of the growing crisis, Monsignor Juan Antonio Cruz Serrano, the Holy See s Permanent Observer to the Organization of American States, recently stated that the Holy See cannot fail to express its concern, and he appealed to the parties to find ways of understanding, based on respect and mutual trust, see