Nicaraguan dictatorship tightens monitoring of Catholic priests

Lima Newsroom, Mar 17, 2025 / 15:25 pm

The dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and his “co-president” and wife, Rosario Murillo, in Nicaragua continues to persecute the Catholic Church and other Christian communities. The regime is now keeping Catholic priests under surveillance, checking their cellphones, and demanding weekly reports on their activities in addition to restricting their freedom of movement.

The Nicaraguan newspaper Mosaico CSI reported that “for the priests who remain in Nicaragua, homilies must be entirely theological. They cannot speak on topics related to the Church’s social doctrine or social criticism.”

According to the news outlet, priests “receive frequent visits from police officers who check their cellphones to see if they are communicating with bishops and priests outside the country or with journalists.”

222 violations of religious freedom

Earlier this month, the international Christian organization Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) published a report describing the dictatorship’s measures against religious leaders, including the requirement to submit weekly reports to the police, share details of their planning, and prohibit them from leaving their municipality without government authorization.

The CSW report also denounced the ban on religious processions and marches as well as “overt and covert government surveillance.”

The international organization warned that “preaching about unity or justice or praying for imprisoned religious leaders or even for the general situation in the country, for example, can be considered criticism of the government and classified as a crime.”

The document reports 222 violations of religious freedom during the period of Jan. 1–Dec. 31, 2024, in addition to 46 cases of arbitrary detentions of religious leaders, such as Catholic laywomen Carmen María Sáenz Martínez and Lesbia del Socorro Gutiérrez Poveda, who “have been held incommunicado without their families having been provided with any proof that they are alive.”

Evangelical pastor imprisoned

CSW also referred to the case of evangelical pastor Efrén Antonio Vílchez López, who worked with more than 100 Christian churches and was beaten and imprisoned in 2022 for publicly criticizing the dictatorship’s violence.

Now incarcerated, he is not allowed any books, let alone a Bible, and “since August 2024, he has only been provided with a small container of water per day. He has been deprived of natural light and fresh air, as he is rarely allowed out into the prison yard.” Furthermore, he is not given the food and medicine people bring to him at the prison.

Infiltration and informants

The CSW report also noted that Protestants and Catholics “frequently reported infiltration and the use of informants in congregations of all types to monitor and report on the content of sermons, prayers, and other activities, which indicates that the government views religious or faith communities with increasing suspicion and actively and systematically keeps them under surveillance.”

Police have also demanded that some topics — such as political prisoners, Israel, and the general situation in Nicaragua — not be mentioned in public as well as that the blue-and-white color combination of the national flag not be used.

13-year-old girl questioned on the way to church

Mosaico CSI reported in January on the case of “Angélica” — a fictitious name to ensure the 13-year-old’s safety — who was questioned by police on her way to church in northern Nicaragua.

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A police officer saw her on the street and asked her several questions, such as why she was going to church “so much.” The girl replied “I’m just going to Mass!” and they let her continue on her way.

“Nothing went any further, and they haven’t bothered her again, but yes, the police continue to monitor all types of activity in the churches, intimidating everyone, even children,” said “Rosa,” a catechist who learned about what happened to Angélica.

CSW calls on dictatorship to reverse course

The CSW report said the Nicaraguan dictatorship needs to uphold human rights by releasing imprisoned religious leaders and political prisoners and restore Nicaraguan citizenship to all those whose citizenship was arbitrarily revoked.

It also calls on the government to restore the legal personhood of the more than 5,000 “civil society organizations that have been arbitrarily outlawed” and to unfreeze the bank accounts of universities, nongovernmental organizations, and religious groups throughout the country.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.