Pope Leo XIV recently received a copy of the latest edition of “Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church,” an extensive report detailing thousands of acts of Christian persecution committed by the communist regime of dictatorial couple Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo in the country since 2018, Catholic outlets reported this week.
The more than 400-page report, currently in its seventh edition, presents an extensive investigation led by exiled Nicaraguan lawyer and activist Martha Patricia Molina. It lists 1,010 known attacks against the Nicaraguan Catholic Church by the Ortega regime, as well as confirming the prohibition of 16,564 Catholic processions and other religious events in Nicaragua by the communist government between April 2018, when the wave of peaceful anti-communist protests started, and July 2025.
ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language division of the Catholic News Agency, detailed that Pope Leo XIV received a copy of the report in the Vatican from Nicaraguan activist Muriel Sáenz during a conference on migrants and refugees.
Molina reportedly told ACI Prensa:
I am happy to know that my friend Muriel Sáenz has personally delivered to Pope Leo XIV the study “Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church,” which is an expression of the Catholic Church and the Nicaraguan people that reflects the persecution of bishops, priests, and laypeople by the Sandinista dictatorship. The repression continues daily, and it is important that the Holy See knows that everything is being documented.
Sáenz reportedly told ACI Prensa that she hopes that Pope Leo continues his support for Nicaraguans and joins global denunciation of the Ortega regime, “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,” she continued. “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.”
Sáenz spoke with the Nicaraguan newspaper 100% Noticias on Monday and recounted that although she only shared a 13-second moment with the pope, it was a very meaningful experience. The activist explained that the copy of the report included letters written by victims and religious organizations detailing the harrowing experiences endured by priests, nuns, and laypersons since the start of Ortega’s brutal Christian persecution in 2018.
“It was a very brief moment, barely 13 seconds, but very meaningful. I told the Pope, ‘I am Nicaraguan, and I have brought you a study by my friend Marta Patricia Molina, made with great affection.’ I also gave him some letters and a cup of coffee,” Sáenz told the newspaper.
“I did not alter what the letters said. I wanted their voices to be heard, not mine,” Sáenz added, and explained that she also sent a letter to Pope Leo asking the pontiff to intercede for the freedom of political prisoners in Nicaragua.
Sáenz further explained to 100% Noticias that during her visit to Rome she privately met with some of the Catholic priests who have been exiled by Ortega and expressed that she hopes to meet next week with Monsignor Rolando Álvarez once he returns to the Vatican from a trip.
Álvarez, an outspoken critic of the Nicaraguan communist regime, is one of the most emblematic cases in Daniel Ortega’s ongoing persecution of the Nicaraguan Catholic Church. Álvarez, the bishop of the diocese of Matagalpa, was banished from his country by dictator Daniel Ortega in January 2024 after spending over 500 days in prison on “treason” charges. Ortega also had the priest stripped of his Nicaraguan nationality, rendering him a stateless person in clear violation of international law.
According to ACI Prensa, Pope Leo XIV met with exiled Nicaraguan Bishops Silvio Báez, Isidoro Mora, and Bishop Carlos Herrera in August. Báez, Auxiliary Bishop of Managua, was forced into exile in 2019 and presently resides in the United States. He reportedly left Nicaragua at the request of Pope Francis, who urged him to leave over concerns for his personal safety after Báez received several death threats. Bishop Mora was banished alongside Monsignor Álvarez and over a dozen other priests in January 2024, while Bishop Herrera was unjustly detained by the Ortega regime in November 2024 and banished to Guatemala days after he criticized the communist mayor of Jinotega, Leonidas Centeno, for disrupting a Mass Herrera presided over with loud music.
“He [Pope Leo] 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,” Báez reportedly told ACI Prensa.
Daniel Ortega, who claims to be Catholic, has led a brutal persecution campaign against the Nicaraguan Catholic Church alongside his wife and “co-president” Rosario Murillo as punishment for the Church’s support of the peaceful April 2018 anti-communist protests. Ortega’s persecution of the peaceful protesters left at least 355 dead, according to the Organization of American States (OAS).
Ortega has dramatically escalated his persecution of Christianity since 2022, the same year in which he declared a “war” against the Vatican and accused the Church of allegedly having “used its bishops in Nicaragua to stage a coup” against him during the 2018 protests.
The communist regime’s persecution of Christianity in Nicaragua has led to the unjust imprisonment and banishment of dozens of members of the Nicaraguan Catholic Church and an increasing number of prohibitions against Catholic processions and autochthonous Christian festivities all over Nicaragua. The regime has also forcefully closed and seized Catholic universities, bank accounts, and other Church assets, and has forcefully shut down Catholic television channels and radio stations throughout the nation.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
The post Vatican Receives 400+ Page Report Detailing Christian Persecution in Nicaragua appeared first on Breitbart.
