VATICAN CITY — As the Catholic Church and Christians at large experience intense persecution in Nicaragua, Pope Francis expressed encouragement and support to the people living under the country’s authoritarian regime. “To the beloved people of Nicaragua: I encourage you to renew your hope in Jesus,” he said after praying the Angelus Aug. 25. “Remember that the Holy Spirit always guides history toward higher projects.” The previous week, the Nicaraguan government revoked the legal status of 1,500 nonprofit organizations operating in the country, many of them Christian churches as well as Catholic charitable organizations and religious congregations. Nicaragua’s national assembly also approved new measures Aug. 20 to tax donations to churches and religious organizations of all denominations. And during the first three weeks of August, nine Catholic priests were arrested in Nicaragua and exiled to Rome. “May the Immaculate Virgin protect you in times of trial and help you feel her motherly tenderness; may Our Lady accompany the beloved people of Nicaragua,” the pope prayed with visitors in St. Peter’s Square. (CNS)
