A fight for the Catholic faith in Nicaragua hits close to home in the Archdiocese of Newark
Editor’s note: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops celebrates Religious Freedom Week from June 22 to June 29. This story highlights one of many examples in which religious freedom is suppressed around the world.
Father Bismarck Chau remembers the religious processions of his childhood growing up in Nicaragua. The streets were filled with music and singing and the passion of the people was overflowing, especially during his favorite season of Lent. He would walk with his family and friends during the public Stations of the Cross and admire the statue of Jesus carrying the cross. He recalls being drawn to that statue and his faith inspired by it.
Decades later, Father Chau is now the rector of Newark’s Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart. And this year as he led his flock through the stations around the cathedral, he could not separate Lent from Nicaragua because back in his home country the streets were silent and empty.
The government regime of Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega, which has brutally and lethally repressed protesters in recent years, implemented a ban on public displays of the Catholic faith in February. The order was carried out by the national police throughout all the dioceses of the country after Ortega branded priests, bishops, cardinals, and Pope Francis himself as “a mafia.” He has accused the bishops of being coup plotters and children of the devil, according to an OSV report from when the ban went into place.
This is the reality of religious freedom in Nicaragua right now, “there is no such thing,” said Father Chau.
Some of Nicaragua’s Church leadership, such as Bishop Silvio José Báez, have been forced into exile after threats on their life. Another of its bishops, Rolando Álvares, refused to be exiled with 222 other political prisoners in February and was sentenced, without a trial or due process, to 26 years in prison for treason.
But this only scratches the surface of the persecution – as the suppression of Catholicism is in many ways the suppression of the identity of a nation and its people.
In Nicaragua, the Catholic faith is tightly woven into its history, according to Father Benny Prado, pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Montclair, who immigrated to the United States from Nicaragua as a teenager.
“Nicaragua is an overwhelmingly Catholic country, steeped in tradition, going back centuries. In Nicaragua, Catholicism isn’t just a religion, it’s a way of life, deeply embedded in its rich culture, its schools, its neighborhoods, music, and food,” he said.
Catholic clergy in Nicaragua have denounced the government’s violent suppression of the people and have also called for democratic reforms.
The government of Daniel Ortega banned public processions in all the Catholic dioceses of Nicaragua in February of 2023. (Oswaldo Rivas / Reuters via OSV)
A spiritual battle between the government and the people
While the Ortega government has been culpable for hundreds of deaths, Father Chau stated that among its most insidious actions is the repression of religious liberties.
“This is not really a flesh and blood fight. This is a spiritual battle; a fight against spiritual evil,” he said.
He calls the Ortega regime a dictatorship, especially in how it seeks to control the narrative.
“It’s a façade. They let you celebrate Mass, but you cannot speak about it. You cannot post online [about your faith]. They’re basically telling the churches what they need to speak about or not, that you shouldn’t be talking about [certain things] otherwise you will suffer the consequences,” Father Chau said. “If you are a priest who prays for the priests in prison, or if you even mention Bishop Alavarez’s name, they are at your door the next day and they will take you away.”
Priests and seminarians are specifically targeted under the Ortega regime, with a dozen among the 222 exiled. And those who are imprisoned suffer humiliating and inhumane conditions, equivalent to “psychological torture,” Father Chau said. But despite this, he has heard stories from those prisoners that testify to the power of faith. Although the priests are not allowed to pray aloud in jail, they still pray silently among themselves and teach the prayers to non-Catholics, who in turn start believing.
Bishop Rolando Álvares confronts the national police before refusing to be exiled. He was then sentenced to 26 years in prison on charges of treason. (OSV screenshot / YouTube)
From a life almost lost to lives saved
Damaris Rostran’s life was in danger when she fled Nicaragua in 2003. Her friends were killed, and she was forced to leave her home due to political persecution. Rostran found refuge in the United States and began working as a community organizer in areas such as immigration, housing, and labor in the state of New Jersey and nationally. Since 2015, she has helped to organize the Nicaraguan diaspora in the United States and contributed to the approval of the RENACER Act in Congress in 2021, which “establishes measures to monitor, report on, and address corruption and human rights abuses in Nicaragua.”
Rostran, who is Catholic herself, has formed a close relationship with Father Chau to help Nicaraguans locally, including spiritual support by organizing Masses that bring the community together and holding Rosaries for Peace for their home country. In February, she assisted the Center for Victims of Torture in receiving and accommodating the 222 Nicaraguan political prisoners.
Damaris Rostran (right) has helped many Nicaraguan refugees in the United States since she had to flee her home country in 2003. (Courtesy / Damaris Rostran)
The persecution of Catholics in Nicaragua
Through her work, Rostran has gained insight into the oppression of Catholics in the country and why Ortega is targeting them.
“The priests are working hard to educate the community, not only about the faith but also about their basic rights,” she said. “So that is the reason [why they are targeted.] And [Bishop Álvarez] is openly talking about the corruption.”
And it’s not just clergy that the government seeks to intimidate.
“There are days where they identify every single person who goes to Mass and the next day these people receive visits from the police department, asking ‘what’s going on?’ and ‘why are you going to the Mass?’” she said.
According to Rostran, if a church or a home flies the Vatican flag, they run the strong possibility of being sentenced to jail. “You can practice any religion, but if you are Catholic the police can march into your home,” she said.
She attributes the government’s antagonistic attitude towards Catholics to the historical fact that Church in Nicaragua has always shielded the people from persecution.
“In 200 years of turmoil and civil war, the Church was like a sheriff who would defend our basic rights. Our priests were the leaders of the people. And so, when the Sandinistas [and Ortega] came into power in 2007, they punished the Catholics,” she said.
Perhaps the most vivid example of this came in July of 2018 when Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes and Bishop Báez marched with anti-government protesters in the streets of Diriamba. Armed groups aligned with Ortega retaliated by attacking the protesters, who took refuge inside St. Sebastian Basilica. The cardinal, the bishop, and clergy put their bodies between the armed groups and the protesters inside and were attacked and injured for it.
Because of this persecution, which can so quickly become violent or deadly, Father Prado says that his family and friends that remain “live in constant fear and morale is low.”
Father Chau adds that he feels worry and sadness for his half-brother and half-sister in Nicaragua, whom he barely communicates with to protect them from knowing too much. Ortega’s regime censors information and its citizens often learn of news weeks after the rest of the world.
So, how is freedom won for Nicaragua?
While Rostran and Fathers Chau and Prado help their native country in their own respective ways, they are united in the answer that it won’t be world leaders, or even Church leaders, who save Nicaragua. It will be the faith of all Catholic Nicaraguans – from those still in the country to those thousands of miles away – that overcomes the regime that wishes to destroy it.
“By believing that through prayer, through fasting, and through speaking the truth, we will be free again,” Father Chau said.
Or as the exiled Bishop Báez said last year: “Just as Jesus Christ, crucified by the powers of the world, was resurrected by God to a life that does not end, the crucified peoples, sooner or later, also rise again.”
For now, Nicaraguan Catholics will continue to carry their cross – even if it must be in silence and in private – in the steadfast faith that the King of Kings will prevail over any regime.
A woman carries a crucifix during a protest in Nicaragua in 2018. (Oswaldo Rivas / Reuters Via OSV)
Read about Bishop Silvio José Báez’s recent visit to the Archdiocese of Newark here, in which he spoke to Hispanic priests about ministering in exile.
Featured image: Father Bismarck Chau leads a Rosary for Peace at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart following the imprisonment of Nicaraguan bishop Rolando Álvares in February. (Courtesy / Damaris Rostran)
