The report by Martha Molina – a lawyer who has been documenting persecution in Nicaragua for years – is damning: since 2019, Nicaraguan authorities have banned more than 16,500 religious processions.
And 309 priests, religious brothers, and sisters have been forced to abandon their ministry, many of them expelled or forced into exile.
A Damning Report
The report, titled “Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church,” is the seventh edition of a study conducted in exile by lawyer and researcher Martha Patricia Molina.
It details 1,010 attacks against the Catholic Church between April 2018 and July 2025, ranging from assaults on clergy to the desecration of sacred sites and the suppression of traditional processions.
According to Ms. Molina, these figures reveal not only a systematic harassment campaign but also the stifling effect of fear: the decrease in reported cases in 2025 does not reflect an improvement in conditions, she warns, but rather increasing intimidation of priests and religious communities.
Recently, local media reported that the Managua government had once again taken measures against Stations of the Cross during Lent. “409 Stations of the Cross have been banned by the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship. Everything must take place inside churches,” writes Ms. Molina from Las Vegas.
The closure of Catholic universities, media outlets, and charitable organizations further underscores the systematic nature of the repression. Even though the rate of recorded attacks has slowed (32 cases this year, compared to 183 in 2024), the author attributes this decline not to tolerance, but to censorship and fear.
Broken Diplomatic Relations
Relations between the Holy See and Managua have been at a standstill since 2023, when the government expelled the apostolic nuncio and Pope Francis denounced what he called a “grotesque dictatorship.”
The arrival of this new case in the hands of his successor indicates that Nicaraguan Catholics continue to rely on Rome for moral support, even though diplomatic relations remain broken.
Ordination of New Priests in Peril
“Beyond the expulsion of already trained religious, the regime has blocked the ordination of new deacons and priests in several ecclesiastical jurisdictions. Researcher Martha Patricia Molina warned that pastoral turnover in dioceses such as Jinotega, Matagalpa, Estelí, and Siuna is practically paralyzed due to the lack of state authorizations.”
A Community Trying Not to Lose Heart
Priests and bishops have been arrested, and religious communities have been asked to leave the country. The arrest, conviction, and expulsion of the Bishop of Matagalpa, Mgr. Rolando José Álvarez Lagos, now a refugee in Rome, caused an international sensation.
“They want to muzzle the Church, to silence her. They want her to disappear from the face of the earth,” former presidential candidate Felix Maradiaga, who lives in exile, told KNA.
Despite the surveillance of churches, according to a report by the portal “Despacho505,” thousands of worshippers flocked to places of worship on Ash Wednesday.