Nicaraguans denounce the’scandalous silence’ of Pope Francis, as Communists attack churches and Silence Catholic Radio

Nicaraguan Catholics are reported to be growing upset at Pope Francis’s silence as the Communist dictator Daniel Ortega closes Catholic radio stations and sends goon teams to harass protesters.

The U.S. State Department condemned Wednesday’s Ortega regime, which ordered six stations of radio belonging to the Roman Catholic Church shut down.

“Ortega-Murillo’s brutal assault on Catholic clergy, radio facilities and community members in Sebaco is another blow to religious freedom in Nicaragua as well as to the freedom of expression. How can men and women in uniform – many of them people of faith – carry out such orders?” said Undersecretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian A. Nichols, referring to Ortega and his vice president and wife, Rosario Murillo.

The radio stations received shutdown orders from Nicaragua’s telecom agency Telcor on Monday. Rev. Rev.

Monday’s orders brought the total number of Catholic radio stations silenced in Matagalpa to eight, plus an award-winning youth-oriented feminist station called Radio Vos.

Many of these closings were accompanied by brutal police action. Radio Vos said police officers arrived at the broadcast facility to close down its transmitters. Ortega’s police also forced their way into the Nino Jesus de Praga chapel in the town of Sebaco to confiscate equipment from the radio station operating from there.

The diocese Matagalpa said that Rev. Uriel Vellejos was in the room where the radio station ran.

“I am being besieged. To get to the equipment, the police broke into the chapel’s doors. Vallejos posted on Facebook that the police were attacking faithful members of the school.

According to the Catholic News Agency (CNA), police fired shots in the air and deployed tear gas to keep the church congregation from assisting Father Vallejos.

Vallejos said the police cut off power to the house, injured two of his parishioners, and detained several people who answered his call for help.

CNA stated that Telcor had claimed radio stations in Matagalpa did not have the broadcast licences they needed to silence them. According to the diocese, all necessary documentation was submitted in person by Rev. Alvarez submitted all of the required paperwork years ago to regulators by Rev.

Telcor also mentioned vague “technical” deficiencies made by Catholic radio stations, but did not specify their nature.

” We will continue to report on and denounce every situation, such as this, that continues to violate freedom of expression and religion in Nicaragua,” said the diocesan in a statement.

The Nicaraguan Independent Journalists and Communicators association (PCIN) denounced the station closings as a “massacre of freedom of information” and a “brutal strategy of the authorities that seek a national blackout of critical voices.”

“This decision was made with civilians and the police who work alongside them. It has also caused infrastructure damage, injured people, and detained young men.

The PCIN demanded full restoration of the radio stations, respect for the civil rights of broadcasters, and protection against “aggressions by the police and Sandinista fanatics.”

Infobae on Wednesday reported growing unhappiness among Nicaraguans with the lack of response from the Vatican and Pope Francis to Ortega’s war on Catholic radio. They felt that the Pope ought to have condemned the Ortega dictatorship years ago.

Infobae recalled the Ortega regime going to war against Catholics after protests broke out against the very suspect election that kept him in power in November 2021. Murillo and Ortega decided that the Catholic Church was supporting a coup against them, by providing shelter for protestors. This regime launched an increasing wave of violence against churches and vandalism, which forced several priests to flee.

“I don’t understand why Pope Francis is able to remain silent when faced with attacks on Nicaraguan priests. I also do not get how he can see someone of the greatest power, who uses God’s name in vain, preaches hate while sowing it,” Gioconda belli, a Nicaraguan writer, said in May.

Some other prominent Nicaraguan Catholic writers weren’t as critical of the Pope. They argued that the Pope had little influence over the Ortega regime and could worsen the situation by joining a fight with the Communist dictator.

Agustin Antonetti, director of a non-governmental organization called Latin America Watch, rejected those excuses on Thursday.

“Pope Francis’ utter silence about what is happening in Nicaragua is shocking. Daniel Ortega’s dictatorship has taken over the churches, shutting down all their radios and channels, one priest was even in prison, while the others are scared of being kidnapped,” said he.

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