On June 21, the Nicaraguan regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo decided to eject the Missionaries of Charity, the nuns of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, out of the country. They also did so at night, forcing them to leave the country under cover of darkness and with their current account frozen… As if they were criminals!
No one knows what will happen to the elderly who the little sisters cared for. As is well known, Mother Teresa’s nuns are dedicated to the poorest of the poor. If they don’t take care of these elderly, who will take care of them?
The decision marks a turning point in the policy of repression and violation of human rights by the Nicaraguan regime.
Because it is 100% certain that Mother Teresa’s nuns did not conspire against the government. They just welcome everyone without asking questions or demanding explanations or anything in return. Love in exchange for nothing. Perhaps this is precisely what is uncomfortable: the testimony of love in the face of the exercise of hatred?
If the regime is capable of expelling those who cannot possibly oppose them, what will be next?
It is raining on wet ground because in mid-June the regime closed a television channel owned by the Nicaraguan Episcopal Conference. “An Orteguian gesture of repression,” in the words of the Church. The regime violated freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion and freedom of enterprise. A true liberticide!
This same regime has been beating priests, nuns and even bishops and desecrating churches and temples for months now.
Such a level of hatred can only be explained by the fact that the Church is the only voice with moral authority that denounces the violation of human rights.
When the Sandinista Ortega returned to power he thought he could “tame” the Church by being pro-life and that the Church would remain silent in the face of his corruption and totalitarianism. It did not. And the answer is repression and censorship. Censorship is applied to the institutional Church and its works: 100 NGOs–mostly Catholic and evangelical–were closed on June 29.
The situation is extreme. That is why CitizenGO has launched a campaign calling on the Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro, to deploy his diplomatic capacity to guarantee religious freedom and the return of the Little Sisters of Mother Teresa.
You can sign the petition here.