Nicaraguan Church ‘Church of catacombs’ because of ongoing persecution

The dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, is preventing priests from entering hospitals in Nicaragua to administer the sacrament of anointing the sick to those who need it, according to lawyer Martha Patricia Molina, author of the report “Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church?” while reports emerged over last weekend that President Ortega also took the step of expelling Bishop Carlos Enrique Herrera Gutiérrez of Jinotega, president of the country’s bishops’ conference.

Approximately 10 priests from different dioceses have confirmed the situation in hospitals to Ms Molina, who nevertheless noted — in an interview with the Spanish edition of EWTN News — that a few other priests are allowed to enter hospitals, “but these are priests with some sort of ties to the dictatorship; they sometimes have the possibility of entering hospitals, but it’s not something widespread”, she explained.

The lawyer commented that before this year the Sandinista dictatorship allowed priests to enter health care facilities. Security measures have been tightened without any justification and the persecution becomes more severe when priests try to enter with clerical garb, which is why many choose to try entering wearing secular clothing.

Ms Molina said the problem is even more serious in the country’s interior, “where priests are more recognised because the towns are very small, so the authorities, the doctors who are in the hospitals or the people who are manning the gates at the hospital entrance, already know them and are quicker to bar them from entering”.

“In other places, for example in the capital, the people who are manning the entrances to the hospitals don’t recognise all the clergy of the Archdiocese of Managua, so they have a better chance of getting in, but not dressed as priests; instead they are going in as laymen to provide the anointing of the sick for people who are about to die,” she explained.

Meanwhile, according to the Nicaraguan newspaper Mosaico CSI, Bishop Carlos Herrera was exiled to Guatemala last week and is staying at a residence of the Order of Friars Minor to which he belongs for recently criticising a pro-Ortega mayor who interfered with a Mass by blasting loud music in front of the local cathedral.

The Latin American Bishops’ Council expressed its closeness following the expulsion of Bishop Herrera in a letter published on its website and addressed to Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes, Archbishop of Managua and vice president of the Nicaraguan Bishops’ Conference.

The Latin American bishops expressed their solidarity with Bishop Herrera and said they pray “that this situation will be resolved soon and that he can return to his homeland”.

Félix Maradiaga, former presidential candidate said the Church in Nicaragua is subjected to a persecution that has practically turned it into a “Church of catacombs”.