Latin American Catholic college organization condemns seizure of Nicaraguan Jesuit university

Walter Sanchez Silva   By Walter Sanchez Silva for CNA

August 28, 2023 Catholic News Agency News Briefs 0 Print

 

Facade of the Central American University (UCA), before being expropriated by the Ortega dictatorship. / Credit: Courtesy Jesuits of Central America

ACI Prensa Staff, Aug 28, 2023 / 16:15 pm (CNA).

The Organization of Catholic Universities of Latin America and the Caribbean (ODUCAL), with a membership of 116 institutions of higher education, expressed its solidarity with the Jesuits of Nicaragua following the expropriation of the Central American University (UCA) by the dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, earlier this month.

In a recent statement, ODUCAL expressed its “deep concern over the siege, the confiscation of assets, and the closure suffered by the Central American University located in Managua” and its “solidarity with its educational community.”

The organization also demanded that “the drastic, abrupt, and unjust measures adopted by the Nicaraguan [court] against Catholic university educational institutions be reversed and corrected immediately.”

The academic association also called for “an end to the growing aggression affecting the Nicaraguan university system and its members” and that “a rational solution be sought in which truth, justice, dialogue, and the defense of academic freedom prevail.”

Two weeks ago, the Ortega regime expropriated the UCA as well as Villa Carmen (the residence of six elderly Jesuits), canceled the legal personhood of the order, and transferred all its property and assets to the state.

Following the takeover by the regime of the UCA, thousands of students found themselves at a crossroads, facing uncertainty about their academic future and how their grades and paperwork will be handled.

In its statement, ODUCAL noted that “the UCA is a Catholic institution of the Society of Jesus with more than 60 years of history that has made a great contribution through its teaching, research, and enormous public advocacy, insistently and courageously seeking peace and justice in Nicaragua.”

ODUCAL expressed its solidarity with the Nicaraguan people and said: “We renew our defense of human rights and peace at a time when our peoples are experiencing, in many places, serious restrictions on freedoms and where democracy is threatened in various ways.”

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

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Thousands march in support of life, family in El Salvador

November 7, 2018 CNA Daily News 0

San Salvador, El Salvador, Nov 7, 2018 / 04:13 pm (ACI Prensa).- Thousands participated Nov. 3 in the “Family is Life” march in San Salvador, calling on authorities to end efforts to legalize abortion and implement gender ideology in schools.

The march, which organizers estimated drew around 5,000 people belonging to 70 organizations, began at the Salvador del Mundo (Savior of the World) Plaza and ended up in downtown San Salvador.

Julia Regina de Cardenal, the president of the Yes to Life Foundation, said that many people in El Salvador are “calling for the right of parents as the first and irreplaceable educators of our children to be respected in face of the threat of gender ideology that is advancing in the programs of this government.”

Speaking to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language sister agency, she said that one of the threats being posed to strong families is the educational document “Comprehensive Sex Education,” since “it encourages children, starting with preschool, to encourage sexual pleasure individually or with another person.”

She further warned that another danger for Salvadoran society “is the National Interagency Strategy for the Prevention of Pregnancy” sponsored by the United Nations Population Fund and the European Union. The program promotes contraception as one of the ‘sexual and reproductive rights’ for girls, without the knowledge of parents, she said.

Regina de Cardenal noted that “on February 3, 2019, we will have presidential elections, and we hope that the candidates see that these issues are important to the people.”

The theme of the Nov. 3 march, she said, “is a message of unity and love, because it is proven that the intact family is key for development, as it provides greater stability, security and opportunities for the children and therefore to society.”

She pointed to the correlation between broken families and gang activity among young people, stressing the value of strong families for the well-being of children.

Sara Larín, of the VIDA SV (Life El Salvador) platform, who also participated in the march, said that the event also sought to “celebrate life, family and values,” as well as “to reclaim the right of parents to educate their own children.”

Gender ideology, she said, “is a violation of the rights of children.”
 
 
This article was originally published by our sister agency, ACI Prensa. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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