Matagalpa:

President Daniel Ortega’s dictatorial regime in Nicaragua continues its reprisals against Christians. In the latest persecution, the Sandinista administration shuttered the local chapter of the Franciscan religious order and NGOs, many with ties to the Catholic Church and other Christian denominations.

In the latest attack, the Ministry of Education and the police took control of the San Francisco de Asiz Institute, located in Matagalpa, governed by the Franciscan Order of Friars. The authorities did not explain why the students were being removed from classes and told them they would be notified when classes resumed.

The authorities announced the cancellation and confiscation of the institutions on October 24 through the official newspaper 'La Gaceta'. They further informed that eight of these 25 institutions voluntarily sought the cancellation.

The interior ministry's formal justification for the decision of cancellation and confiscation said that these organizations had not disclosed their funding and donation sources. Additionally, the government seized the organizations' movable and immovable assets.

Other non-profit organizations that the government has canceled include the Foundation Centre for Integral Attention for Boys and Girls with Autism, the International Church of Christ Association in Nicaragua, the La Vid Verdadera Christian Ministry Association, the “San Francisco” Association of Medical Specialists, and the Company of the Order of Franciscan Friars Minor of the Seraphic Province of Assisi in Nicaragua.

Earlier in August, a university run by Jesuits was made to suspend classes after the leftist government announced the seizure of all its assets and accused the school of terrorism.

According to a report,' Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church?' released earlier this month by lawyer and researcher Martha Patricia Molina, the Catholic Church suffered 205 attacks in 2023 alone. More than 39 Catholic Church religious, charitable, educational, and pastoral organizations were closed, and 214 prelates and religious, including priests and nuns, were humiliated, harassed, intimidated, and barred from functioning in the Central American country.