SW News: With the beginning of the Advent season next week on November 27, the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua (CEN) published its message on Thursday highlighting the migration crisis suffered by the country. The Nicaraguan Episcopate stated it to be “a reflection of a human drama that challenges us". At the same time, they hailed the return of face-to-face activities after the coronavirus pandemic.

According to Customs and Border Protection (CBP), between October 1, 2020, and September 30, 2022, the US authorities detained an unprecedented 239,469 undocumented Nicaraguan migrants. These 239,469 migrants represent 3.9% of Nicaragua's total population, estimated at 6.6 million inhabitants. It is the iron-handed rule of President Daniel Ortega’s Sandinista regime that has triggered the huge exodus of people to other countries.

The UN Refugee Agency said, "Approximately 150,000 people have gone to Costa Rica, a neighboring country. The number of Nicaraguans who have requested protection in Costa Rica since 2018 exceeds the number of people who fled Central American civil wars in the 1980s".

The migration crisis is aggravated by the recent announcement of the president of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves, who said steps would be taken to stop the infiltration of more people from Nicaragua.

The president said that these people enter claiming to be "political refugees". On the other hand, they are "economic refugees" fleeing the crisis which was accentuated in the general elections of November 7, 2021, in which Ortega was re-elected for a fifth term along with his wife, Rosario Murillo, as vice president, he added.

On the other hand, the message pointed out that the joy of growing recovery of presence in pastoral activities does not prevent the Catholic bishops from recognizing other concerns such as the social, political, and economic events of their homeland.

According to the bishops, another relevant issue is the synodal process and so the message advocated doing good and walking together as brothers. It was written, "We must all walk together, no one should be left behind; we must all have the possibilities to develop and make Nicaragua a country of brothers."

The message concluded by urging the country's bishops to encourage the faithful to continue "in a prayerful attitude, living the Liturgy of Advent, as a time of prayer and reflection characterized by vigilant waiting for repentance, forgiveness, and joy."