Papa Leone XIV riceve un rapporto dettagliato sugli attacchi contro la Chiesa cattolica in Nicaragua

Papa Leone XIV riceve l'ultima edizione del rapporto “Nicaragua: una Chiesa perseguitata”, di Martha Patricia Molina, il 2 ottobre 2025. / Crediti: Per gentile concessione di Muriel Saenz

Redazione ACI Prensa, 4 ottobre 2025 / 09:00 (CNA).

Papa Leone XIV ha ricevuto questa settimana il rapporto “Nicaragua: una Chiesa perseguitata” della ricercatrice Martha Patricia Molina, che descrive in dettaglio il divieto di oltre 16.500 processioni e atti di pietà, nonché oltre 1.000 attacchi contro la Chiesa cattolica da parte della dittatura del presidente Daniel Ortega e di sua moglie e vicepresidente, Rosario Murillo.

L'attivista Muriel Sáenz, nicaraguense di nascita, fuggita dalla dittatura negli anni '80 e che ora lavora per aiutare gli immigrati negli Stati Uniti, ha presentato il rapporto di Molina a Papa Leone il 2 ottobre durante l'udienza del Santo Padre con i partecipanti a una conferenza vaticana su migranti e rifugiati.

“Sono felice di sapere che la mia amica Muriel Sáenz ha consegnato personalmente a Papa Leone XIV lo studio ‘Nicaragua: una Chiesa perseguitata’, che è un'espressione della Chiesa cattolica e del popolo nicaraguense che riflette la persecuzione di vescovi, sacerdoti e laici da parte della dittatura sandinista”, ha detto Molina ad ACI Prensa, partner di notizie in lingua spagnola della CNA.

“The repression continues daily, and it is important that the Holy See knows that everything is being documented,” she stated.

Molina said she also sent Leo XIV a letter stating that the Catholic Church in Nicaragua is “in total communion with the pope and united in prayer despite the adversity and repression.”

Sáenz, founder of Nicaraguans in the World Texas, Inc., an organization that helps people present their asylum cases before immigration courts in the U.S., told ACI Prensa that she also presented Leo with letters from victims of the dictatorship, including priests, and gave him Nicaraguan coffee.

“I hope the pope continues his support in the global denunciation [of the dictatorship], since remaining silent only allows criminals to continue causing more and more harm. My intention is also for the world to learn about what is happening in Nicaragua, where the criminals who make people call them president and co-president have an entire country — which has no weapons to defend itself — in their hands,” Sáenz said.

“If one does not obey their absurd demands, one is shamelessly imprisoned in inhumane conditions, enduring degrading treatment and torture. Priests and laypeople are not exempt from such treatment. I am sure that if we manage to force [the regime] to leave, the more than 1 million Nicaraguans scattered around the world would return tomorrow,” she added.

On Aug. 23, Pope Leo XIV received three bishops in an audience at the Vatican: Bishop Silvio Báez, who was confirmed by the Holy Father in his position as auxiliary bishop of Managua, although he has been in exile since 2019; Bishop Isidoro Mora of Siuna; and Bishop Carlos Herrera, president of the Nicaraguan Episcopate, who is in exile in Guatemala.

“He encouraged me to continue my episcopal ministry and confirmed me as auxiliary bishop of Managua. I sincerely thank him for his fraternal welcome and his encouraging words,” said Báez, who currently resides in the United States, regarding his meeting with the pope.

The seventh edition of the report “Nicaragua: una Chiesa perseguitata” was released on Aug. 27.

Molina explained that the ban on processions has been intensified since 2022 and that the dictatorship imposed this measure annually throughout the country, but the report does not consider all parish churches or chapels, which number 400 in Managua alone.

“So the figure presented in the study could be at least three or four times higher than what is being recorded,” she pointed out.

In an interview with the Spanish-language edition of EWTN News, Molina explained that so far in this year alone, 32 attacks against the Church by the dictatorship have been recorded, a figure that could be much higher, considering the increasing control of the Ortega-Murillo government.

“There is constant surveillance of priests and bishops. Some of them are even followed 24 hours a day,” Molina said, adding: “The clergy meetings held by bishops with priests continue to be constantly monitored by the police, who take photographs and videos of the religious who attend.”

Questa storia è stata pubblicata per la prima volta di ACI Prensa, partner di notizie in lingua spagnola di CNA. È stato tradotto e adattato da CNA.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/266969/pope-leo-xiv-receives-detailed-report-on-attacks-against-the-catholic-church-in-nicaragua