Dictatorship in Nicaragua expels three nuns who were serving the elderly

ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 14, 2023 / 16:00 pm (CNA).

In a new attack against the Catholic Church, the dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega expelled from Nicaragua three nuns who were running a home for the elderly.

According to Nicaraguan media 100% Noticias, the dictatorial regime expelled Costa Rican siblings Sister Isabel and Sister Cecilia and Guatemalan Sister Teresa, who were given 72 hours to leave the country.

The Nicaraguan General Directorate for Migration and Foreigners began issuing summons to various religious and foreign missionaries in late February.

According to 100% Noticias, new requirements are being demanded of such religious to remain in the country.

The nuns were in charge of the López Carazo nursing home in the city of Rivas in the Diocese of Granada, whose bishop, Jorge Solórzano, was reportedly notified by the dictatorship of the expulsion.

Neither the bishop nor the diocese have issued any statement on the matter.

The Diocese of Tilarán-Liberia in Costa Rica, about 100 miles from the border with Nicaragua, reported April 12 that Sister Isabel and Sister Cecilia, who belong to to the Dominican congregation of the Anunciata, were welcomed by their other sister and her husband yesterday afternoon at the Peñas Blancas border post in Costa Rica.

Bishop Manuel Eugenio Salazar of Tilarán-Liberia expressed his desire to help the nuns with whatever they need and sent Father Juan de Dios Bermúdez Quesada, pastor of La Cruz, to help with the procedures at the migration post.

On his Facebook page, Salazar told the expelled nuns that “it’s an honor that as spouses of Christ your feet should set foot on these lands; the Diocese of Tilarán-Liberia is open to you. Thank you for your dedication to Christ and to his Church!”

“Let us continue to pray for the Church in Nicaragua and especially for Bishop Rolando Álvarez, who has served two months in prison. Mary, Immaculate Mother, defend and protect Nicaragua!” the prelate exclaimed in reference to the bishop of Matagalpa, unjustly sentenced to 26 years and four months in prison as a “traitor to the homeland.”

It’s not the first time that Salazar has assisted nuns expelled by the Nicaraguan dictatorship. In July 2022 he welcomed a group of Missionaries of Charity, the congregation founded by St. Teresa of Calcutta.

On that occasion, the bishop stressed that “by receiving you we have received Jesus Christ. You are brave women, of simplicity. Count on us, we are at your service.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.