In a major crackdown against the catholic church, the Nicaragua government in the Central America has decided to expel the Association run by the Missionaries of Charity (MoC) for failing to comply with the state laws. The government stating the specific reason said that the association had failed to comply with Law 977 which deals with money laundering, financing of terrorism and financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
According to the reports, the Nicaraguan government President Daniel Ortega has also decided to shut down 100 similar NGOs including several Catholic organizations operating in the country. The measure was first ordered by the Nicaraguan Interior Ministry and was approved by the National Assembly on July 7.
Since St. Mother Teresa visited the nation of Nicaragua during Daniel Ortega’s first term in office, the Missionaries of Charity have been active there. The Immaculate Heart of Mary Home in Granada, which takes in abandoned children and abuse victims, is run by nuns. They run a nursing home in Managua, the nation’s capital, where the elderly may get amenities including food and clothing. The MC also runs childcare for children from low-income families and provides remedial education to at-risk youth.
The government ordering the association’s dismissal stated that it did not have an operating permit from the Ministry of Education to provide remedial education for students. “Also, they are not accredited by the Ministry for the Family to function as a nursery-center for childhood development, home for girls, and home for the elderly, and their financial statements reported to the Ministry of the Interior don’t agree with other documents presented for review”, the government was quoted.
The decision to expel more than similar NGOs including the Kolkata-based Missionaries of Charity comes amid the massive war of words between the Catholic Church and the Ortega’s government who is ruling over the entire Central America for the past 15 years. Relations have been fragile since 2018 when Nicaraguan authorities cracked down on marches against a series of disputed social security reforms. Despite attempts to mediate the crisis, bishops were eventually barred from participating in the dialogue, and relations deteriorated further following the contentious 2021 elections, which confirmed President Ortega against the other presidential candidate.
Reports mention that among the Catholic organizations that the Nicaraguan government has ordered to dissolve are the Diriomito Children’s Care Home Association, the My Childhood Mothers Foundation, the Catholic Foundation for Human Development Assistance for Nicaraguans, and the Spirituality Foundation for Children of Nicaragua.
It is important to note that the Missionaries of Charity Association has also been booked in several cases in India. In December 2021, the Gujarat Government filed an FIR against the organization founded by Mother Teresa for luring young girls to convert to Christianity. Also, one of the ex-nun had confirmed that MoC isolated the nuns and sisters and institutionally brainwashed them.
Reportedly, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs had rejected the renewal of the FCRA licence of the organisations after it failed to submit documents about the donations it had received from the overseas. Reportedly, the Christian evangelist organisation had been receiving large amounts of money from a company based in tax haven Panama. Of the total ₹75 crores received as donations from foreign donors, more than 17% came from this mysterious company with links to companies named in Pandora papers. Later the license was restored after the organisation submitted relevant documents.
