Police in Nicaragua have thwarted the celebration of feast day processions for patron saints in a city considered iconic for the ruling Sandinista regime, which continues increasing its repression of the Catholic Church.
Police have surrounded parishes in the city of Masaya, 18
Following the arrest of a bishop and 11 others, police continued harassing Nicaraguan Catholics, even as Pope Francis called for "open and sincere" dialogue in the Central American country.
Photos posted to social media showed police and paramilitaries surrounding St. Michael the Archangel
Nicaraguan police burst into Matagalpa diocesan headquarters and removed an outspoken bishop who had been under house arrest for more than two weeks.
Police raided the curia in the predawn hours of Aug. 19 and took Bishop Rolando Álvarez, according to a social
(CNS) Three police patrols detained a Nicaraguan priest at his parish Aug. 14, in the latest instance of the government repression of the Catholic Church. The same day, two other priests said they were stopped from going to the cathedral in Matagalpa
Detained Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando José Álvarez appeared in a video Aug. 11, a week into his de facto house arrest by government authorities, saying that he and the companions who are with him have hearts full of forgiveness and love.
The video, taken
Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando José Álvarez offered a message of love to the world Aug. 7 even as he continued to be detained by police inside a church building in Matagalpa.
"We have to respond to hate with love, despair with hope, and fear
The Missionaries of Charity have been expelled from Nicaragua, the latest in a series of attacks on the Catholic Church and its ministries from the Central American country's increasingly repressive government.
The order of sisters -- founded by St. Teresa of Kolkata, known
The Vatican called Nicaragua's expulsion of the Vatican ambassador "grave and unjustified" as the rift deepened between the Catholic Church and the government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.
In a March 12 statement, the Vatican said the Nicaraguan government "has decided to withdraw
A Nicaraguan bishop said he will leave the country indefinitely as concerns for his security increase -- presumably the product of his criticisms of the Central American nation's president.