Nicaragua Targets Christians: 309 Religious Freedom Violations Recorded in 2025 as Ortega Regime Expels Nuns and Bans Bibles

Nicaragua Christian Persecution 2025: Ortega Regime Logs 309 Religious Freedom Violations Against Catholics and Protestants

A new report from Christian Solidarity Worldwide has documented 309 separate violations of freedom of religion or belief in Nicaragua during 2025, revealing an intensifying campaign of repression under the Ortega Murillo government.

Of the 309 violations recorded, 200 cases targeted Roman Catholics while 108 affected Protestant Christians, including Seventh day Adventists.

The government imposed so called "precautionary measures" on 36 religious leaders during 2025, more than triple the number recorded in 2024. Affected clergy were required to report weekly to police stations and obtain prior authorization before leaving their municipalities.

At least 18 religious organizations lost their legal status during the year, including the Association of Independent Fundamentalist Baptists in February. The cumulative total of civil society organizations stripped of legal recognition has now surpassed 5,600. Affected entities include schools, radio and television outlets, and charities such as Lutheran World Relief.

Between January and December 2025, approximately 30 nuns from three religious orders were forced to leave Nicaragua, departing from convents across multiple departments.

Pastor Rudy Palacios Vargas and six associates were arrested on July 17, 2025. One of them, Deacon Mauricio Alonso Petri, died in custody in August. His family received no explanation from authorities regarding the cause of death.

Transit companies operating in Nicaragua were informed that Bibles would be added to a list of prohibited items, placed alongside perishable food and drones.

The government has prohibited new Catholic priest and deacon ordinations in four dioceses. An estimated 70 percent of clergy in the Diocese of Matagalpa have been forced into exile.

Ortega Government Cracks Down on Catholic and Protestant Churches in Nicaragua

The Christian Solidarity Worldwide report paints a picture of systematic targeting of religious life across denominational lines. The weekly police check ins and travel restrictions effectively place clergy under informal house arrest.

The banning of Bibles from public transit marks a new escalation in a multi year campaign that has previously included banning religious processions, seizing seminaries, and exiling bishops.

The Crusader's Opinion

Daniel Ortega is hunting Christ's Church in broad daylight and the world keeps scrolling. A deacon died in a Nicaraguan jail cell in August and his family was told nothing. Nuns are being marched out of their convents. Bibles are now contraband on public buses, filed alongside drones and rotting meat. Pastors report to police stations like parolees. This is what Marxist tyranny always becomes, a boot stamping on the face of the Body of Christ, forever. Catholic or Protestant, it does not matter to Ortega. He hates the cross itself. And every Christian on earth, whatever your denomination, should be roaring for our brothers and sisters in Managua.

Take Action

• Donate to support persecuted Christians worldwide through The Shepherd's Shield.
• Support imprisoned and exiled Nicaraguan clergy through Open Doors.
• Give to Voice of the Martyrs, which actively tracks Nicaragua's crackdown on pastors.
• Contact your U.S. Senator and ask them to sanction Ortega regime officials under the Global Magnitsky Act at senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm.
• Pray publicly at your church this Sunday for the Nicaraguan Catholic and Protestant faithful, naming Pastor Rudy Palacios Vargas and the family of Deacon Mauricio Alonso Petri.
• Share the Christian Solidarity Worldwide report at csw.org.uk with pastors and friends to raise awareness.