Miami Archbishop and U.S. Official Condemn Nicaragua’s Persecution of Church During Holy Week

During Holy Week 2026, Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau issued strong condemnations of the ongoing persecution of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua under the regime of President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo.

At the Chrism Mass at St. Mary Cathedral in Miami on March 31, Archbishop Wenski highlighted the global need for hope, stating, “we find ourselves surrounded by people who desperately need good news.” After addressing crises in Haiti and Cuba, he focused on Nicaragua, where the regime has expelled over 300 clergy and banned priestly ordinations in four dioceses: Matagalpa, Estelí, Siuna, and Jinotega.

“In Nicaragua — a country that has expelled more than 300 bishops, priests, seminarians, and religious in recent years — the regime has banned priestly ordinations in four dioceses,” Wenski declared. The recent expulsion of Father José Concepción Reyes Mairena brought the total to 309 religious forced into exile. The Chrism Mass, essential for blessing sacramental oils, was also prohibited in these dioceses.

Wenski’s homily connected the Passion of Christ to modern suffering: “we cannot look upon the crucified Christ without looking at those being crucified before our very eyes and seeing him in them.”

Exiled Nicaraguan priest Father Edwing Román, now vicar at St. Agatha Parish in Miami, praised the archbishop’s words as “prophetic.” He expressed gratitude for Wenski’s “defense and closeness to Nicaragua,” noting the Archdiocese of Miami has served as a refuge for exiled clergy, including Auxiliary Bishop Silvio Báez of Managua.

Bishop Báez, who has lived in exile since 2019 and was received by Pope Leo XIV in 2025, concelebrated the Mass alongside four exiled Nicaraguan priests and several other clergy of Nicaraguan origin ministering in the U.S.

Concurrently, Deputy Secretary Landau denounced the Ortega regime’s suppression of religious freedom. He noted Nicaragua’s historic Holy Week traditions in cities like Granada and León, expressing hope that “our Nicaraguan friends reclaim their religious freedom.”

Researcher Martha Patricia Molina, author of the report “Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church,” has documented thousands of banned religious processions and public events, with restrictions intensifying during Holy Week.

The coordinated statements from high-ranking religious and diplomatic figures underscore international alarm over the systematic dismantling of religious liberty in Nicaragua.