Nicaragua bans Jesuits, confiscates their assets

Source: AICA, Central American Jesuit Province, Vatican News

As the crackdown against the Catholic Church in Nicaragua intensifies, President Daniel Ortega's regime yesterday declared the Jesuit order illegal and ordered the confiscation of all their assets.

After expelling a community of Jesuit priests from their private residence close to the Central American University (UCA) in Managua, and taking over the university, on Wednesday, 23 August, Nicaraguan authorities then banned the entire Society of Jesus from the country and ordered the confiscation of all its assets, claiming the religious order had failed to comply with tax reporting.

The move comes one week after the government closed the Jesuit-run UCA in Managua which was a hub for 2018 protests against President Daniel Ortega's regime, arguing it was a "centre of terrorism".

The Sandinista regime has closed 26 universities in Nicaragua since 2021.

In a statement last week, Central American Province of the Society of Jesus described the government policy as a systematic violation of human rights "aimed at consolidating a totalitarian state."

In a new statement released on Wednesday, 23 August, the Jesuit Province strongly condemned the "new aggression against the Jesuit Order in Nicaragua" and, again, appealed the Nicaraguan government to put an immediate end to its "systematic repression" and violation of human rights leading the country to a totalitarian state.

The statement further urged President Ortega and his wife, Vice-President Rosario Murillo to seek "a rational solution" to the contention "in which truth, justice, dialogue, respect for human rights, the rule of law", while asking for "the respect of the freedom and total integrity" of the Jesuits working in the country and their collaborators.

Finally, the Jesuit Province of Central America expressd their closeness to the "thousands of victims" of government repression in Nicaragua "awaiting justice and reparation" and gratitude for world-wide support and solidarity" received during this crisis.

Relations between President Daniel Ortega's regime and the Catholic Church have deteriorated rapidly since the Nicaraguan authorities clamped down on protests against a series of controversial government-sponsored reforms in 2018, with Ortega accusing the bishops of plotting to overthrow him.

Since then, the Church has been the target of many attacks, desecrations and intimidations, and several members of clergy and religious have been either expelled, or arrested. Among them Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa, who is serving 26 years in prison for high treason, for 'undermining national integrity and spreading false news.'

In 2019, Managua Auxiliary Bishop Silvio José Báez was forced to leave the Archdiocese, after receiving several death threats, and is presently living in the United States.

In 2022, the Apostolic Nuncio to Nicaragua, Polish Archbishop Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag, was expelled as "persona non grata", and in April this year, the Holy See closed its nunciature in Managua, after the Nicaraguan government proposed suspending diplomatic relations.

The expulsions, closures and confiscations have not targeted only the Catholic Church. Nicaragua has outlawed or closed more than 3,000 civic groups and non-governmental organizations. In May, the government ordered the Nicaraguan Red Cross shut down, accusing it of "attacks on peace and stability" during anti-government demonstrations in 2018.

In June, the government confiscated properties belonging to 222 opposition figures, including rights activists, journalists and lawyers, who were forced into exile in February after being imprisoned by Ortega's regime.

LINK

Central American Jesuit Provincial statement: https://jesuitascam.org/comunicado-9/