SW News: On June 14, Daniel Ortega's government in Nicaragua suspended the personal bank accounts of several priests from different dioceses. Lawyer Martha Patricia Molina, who is currently living in exile, has spoken out against the Sandinista regime’s activities on Twitter, expressing worry that this practice would extend to even more priests and laypeople.
According to Molina, when several priests in the dioceses of Granada, Jinotega, Estel, and León attempted to access their personal bank accounts, they got a warning claiming that their "use is restricted." In relation to the account freezes, Molina continued, "Logically, what they are doing is criminalizing priests," according to local media in Nicaragua, arguing that such steps were to be anticipated.
On May 27, the suspension of Catholic institutions' financial accounts started. The limits were progressively implemented, first in the dioceses of Estel, Matagalpa, and Managua, and later across the country. Bancentro, BDF, and Banpro were just some of the banks that reported closing accounts on that day.
Meanwhile, opposition leader Felix Maradiaga has slammed the government's action, calling it a "serious act of violence and persecution of the Church."
The suspension of diplomatic relations, the deportation and detention of priests, and the prohibition of religious activities all show that tensions between the Ortega regime and the Catholic Church are now high.
In Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega's authoritarian regime assaulted the church at least 529 times between 2018 and 2023, with 90 of those attacks happening in 2023 alone, according to Martha Patricia Molina's book "Una Iglesia Persecuta?"