Daniel Ortega Expels Nuns, Seizes Seminaries as Religious Persecution Intensifies in Nicaragua

Nicaragua’s government has expelled approximately 30 Poor Clare nuns from their convents in Managua and Chinandega, marking the latest crackdown from Daniel Ortega’s regime. 

The nuns were only allowed to take some of their belongings before they were forced to leave, according to a local report by Mosaico CSI. 

The government’s crackdown comes after Ortega’s regime seized the seminary of the Diocese of Matagalpa in Nicaragua on Jan. 20.  

Pillar Catholic reported that half of the 60 students studying at the San Luis de Gonzaga Seminary were present during the confiscation. Those present were sent home by the police. 

San Luis de Gonzaga Seminary served as an important part of the local Catholic community, teaching seminarians from the Matagalpa and Siuna dioceses, among others. 

The confiscation is a continuation of the persecution of Catholics under Ortega’s rule. 

Since the infamous Ortega’s return to power, Matagalpa has lost over 60% of its clergy, and Nicaragua as a country has lost 20% of its total clergy. 

On Jan. 16, days before the seizing of the seminary, the Sandinista-led Nicaraguan government confiscated the Matagalpa diocese’s La Cartuja Pastoral Center.  

Vatican News wrote, “As reported by several eyewitnesses, paramilitaries had raided the facility and forcibly removed dozens of faithful who were attending a spiritual retreat.” 

Bishop Rolando Álvarez of the Matagalpa diocese, who was initially sentenced to 26 years in prison, has been living in exile in Rome since January 2024 following a one-year prison sentence on the charge of treason, according to Catholic News Agency. 

Father Frutos Valle was appointed apostolic minister after Álvarez’s sentencing, allowing him to carry out pastoral governance duties. Valle was also detained by police. 

The Catholic Church has faced intense persecution from Ortega since 2022.  

According to an article by The Daily Signal, “Ortega’s regime has implemented numerous anti-Catholic policies, such as stopping restrictions of nongovernmental groups, expelling nuns, forcing the closure of Catholic charities and educational projects, suppressing media outlets, and banning Easter and Way of the Cross processions.” 

On Dec. 2, 2024, Pope Francis wrote a pastoral letter urging the Catholics of Nicaragua, “Do not forget the Lord’s loving Providence, which accompanies us and is our only sure guide.”  

The regime is not only hostile to Catholics and other religious groups, but also toward citizens who protest the government. 

In 2023, the Nicaraguan government exiled 222 political prisoners, leading opposition, and student activists to the United States. They were stripped of their Nicaraguan citizenship.  

In an interview with National Catholic Reporter, Miguel Flores, one of the 222 political prisoners said, “That’s when we became stateless, without a country, and so, in the end, our freedom wasn’t real because freedom means being able to remain in one’s country.”

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