Nicaragua

As the Catholic Church and Christians at large experience intense persecution in Nicaragua, Pope Francis expressed encouragement and support to the people living under the country's authoritarian regime.

The Nicaraguan government has extinguished the legal status of more than 25 Catholic organizations, including religious orders such as the Franciscans, Carmelites and Augustinians, another diocesan Caritas chapter, and lay Catholic groups, as part of an attack on civil society with the closure of 1,500 nongovernmental organizations.

The Nicaraguan government arrested two priests who were then exiled to Rome, shortly after a group of seven priests was sent to Rome earlier in the month.

Catholics turned out in large numbers to celebrate Holy Week in Nicaragua. But the ruling Sandinista regime prohibited public exhibitions of faith -- such as processions and reenactments of the passion of Christ -- as it continued exercising control over religious activities in what’s becoming an increasingly totalitarian country.

The U.S. Department of State has demanded the release of Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa and other imprisoned Nicaraguan religious leaders following a wave of detentions targeting Catholic clergy over the Christmas season.