Trappist sisters are leaving Nicaragua because of persecution
Trappist sisters who have been ministering in Nicaragua for more than two decades have announced the end of their mission in that country. This is related to a series of persecutions against the Catholic Church in a country ruled by the regime of left-wing President Daniel Ortega.
According to a statement from the Nicaraguan church authorities, they transferred the buildings, property and goods of their congregation to the Diocese of Chontales before leaving the country. A dozen or so sisters of this congregation, who lived in the central part of the country in the municipality of San Pedro de Lóvago, are now to minister in Panama.
The Trappist Sisters, who have been serving in Nicaragua since January 2001, are the second female religious order to leave the Central American country due to the persecution of the Church, under pressure from the Ortega regime. In July 2022, 18 nuns from the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of Charity, founded by St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
In February, a court in Managua sentenced Bishop Rolando Álvarez to 26 years in prison. In March 2022, the apostolic nuncio Archbishop Waldemar Stanisław Sommertag was forced to leave Nicaragua prematurely.
Human rights organizations estimate that President Ortega’s regime has already ordered the closure of nine Catholic radio stations and three Church-affiliated TV stations as a result of the persecution.
Source: pch24.pl
