Not Sending Photos, Moderating Sermons, and Not Praying for Nicaragua: Ortega Controls Priests

In Lent and the eve of Holy Week, one of the highlights of Catholicism, Father Fabricio feels “cast.” He has received direct warnings from the police of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo that “he knows,” he tells EL PAÍS, he cannot ignore; to do so would imply imprisonment or banishment: “They told me that nothing to take processions out of Via Crucis on Fridays, to moderate what I say in the pulpit and not to go asking for the good of the count…

The Sandinista system in Nicaragua has sparked a new wave of escalation against the Catholic clergy. Cell phones of priests have been monitored, and church services can only be held with the state's permission. "Police officers suddenly appeared in the rectory of the parish of Nuestra Señora de Fatima and began interrogating him. Fr. Luis Eduardo Benavides had to provide information about his plans for the coming days. Then photos were taken. Th…