The Missionaries of Charity of Nicaragua have recently settled in Costa Rica. They are now part of the 100,000 Nicaraguans who have taken refuge in the neighboring country due to President Daniel Ortega's oppressive government.
The group of missionary nuns are one of more than one hundred organizations that were dissolved by the Nicaraguan National Assembly on June 28.
The Ministry of the Interior has accused the nuns of money laundering, financing of terrorism and financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, which violate their mission.
ISRAEL GONZÁLEZ ESPINOZA
Nicaraguan journalist in exile
There is no logical explanation or legal basis for the expulsion of the Missionary Sisters of Charity. In fact, the association was suspended by the National Assembly, which is a body that is completely controlled by Daniel Ortega's regime.
Israel Gonzalez Espinoza, an exiled Nicaraguan journalist, says that the expulsion is one step further in the oppressive wave of President Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, against the Catholic Church.
Since May, the persecution of the Church has intensified with the police harassment of Bishop Rolando Alvarez, the closing of nearly a dozen Catholic TV and radio channels and even the imprisonment of priests.
ISRAEL GONZÁLEZ ESPINOZA
Nicaraguan journalist in exile.
Daniel Ortega and his regime are fighting enemies that do not exist.
The Catholic Church is currently the only institution in the country that is denouncing the grave violations of human rights that are taking place in the country.
Espinoza denounces the persecution of priests, the use of spies in parishes, and the government harassment of clergy such as Bishop Rolando Álvarez and Bishop Leopoldo Brenes.
Vatican officials such as Rodrigo Guerra, Secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, have condemned the violation of human rights. During an assembly of the Conference of Latin American Bishops, Guerra said that President Ortega's government falls into 'neo-populism' and “suppresses freedoms.”
ISRAEL GONZÁLEZ ESPINOZA
Nicaraguan journalist in exile
Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo - who have governed the country since 2007 – view the Church as an institution that confronts them with a message of hope, a prophetic message, a message of criticism.
Yet, it is the persecuted Church that is being harassed by the Ortega regime for its courageous condemnation of human rights violations.
The Missionaries of Charity, founded by Mother Teresa of Calcutta, had been serving in Nicaragua since 1989 and providing social and financial assistance for low-income children.
In 1987, President Ortega met with Mother Teresa at a Eucharistic Congress led by the Bishops Conference. He promised to provide her with the resources needed to carry out her work. Today, President Ortega's actions contradict this promise.
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