12/17/2024 Nicaragua (International Christian Concern) — In its latest attack on religious organizations, the Nicaraguan government has ordered the expulsion of all remaining Catholic nuns from the country.

According to exiled human rights lawyer Martha Molina and a report by La Croix International, the nuns had “until December to leave the country.”

“The nuns have already been banned from working in nonprofit organizations, now all their property is being confiscated, and most of them have already left Nicaragua,” Molina said.

This banishment is the latest in a series of assaults by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega against religious organizations and NGOs, especially those connected to the Catholic Church.

Since 2018, 245 Catholic clergy members have been expelled from the country, including two high-ranking bishops earlier this year. In August, the Jesuit religious order was banned, and its assets were seized before dissolving the entire Anglican diocese a month later and seizing its assets. In November, priests were barred from ministering to the sick in public hospitals.

While being a primary target of Ortega’s government, religious organizations have not been the only target. Earlier this year, the Nicaraguan government was internationally condemned for canceling the legal status of more than 1,500 nonprofits and NGOs in the country in August, including hundreds of Catholic and Protestant groups and churches.

“Under the leadership of President Ortega and Vice-President Murillo, the government has made clear its intention to totally eradicate all independent actors in the country,” said Anna Strangl, head of advocacy for CSW, back in August. “The social impact of this move, in terms of how it will affect the day-to-day lives of men, women, and children who interact with, and in some cases depend on, the programs of the canceled organizations, is impossible to quantify.”

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