The regime of Sandinista dictator Daniel Ortega canceled this Wednesday (23) the legal status of the Society of Jesus Association of Nicaragua, whose members are known as Jesuits, and ordered the expropriation of its assets, which include a university and two private schools.
The dissolution of the Society of Jesus Association of Nicaragua, registered in the country since May 16, 1995, was approved by the Nicaraguan Minister of the Interior, María Amelia Coronel Kinloch, according to a decision published in La Gaceta, the Nicaraguan Official Gazette.
The decision comes a week after the Nicaraguan Justice, controlled by the Sandinistas, froze the bank accounts and seized the properties of the Jesuit Universidad Centro-americana (UCA), one of the most prestigious centers of private studies in the country, after being accused of terrorism crimes.
The UCA, considered one of the last bastions of freedom of thought in Nicaragua, rejected the authorities’ “unfounded accusations” and decided to suspend its academic and administrative activities.
The Society of Jesus, to which Pope Francis belongs, is the largest male religious order in the Catholic Church, with more than 16,000 members, as indicated on its website.
In this Wednesday’s decision, the Ministry of the Interior maintained that the Society of Jesus Association of Nicaragua was illegalized for “non-compliance with the laws”, claiming that the registration of its board of directors expired on March 27, 2020 and that the institution did not reported its financial statements for the fiscal period between 2020 and 2022.
As for the liquidation of the organization’s assets, which also include the Loyola and Central America private schools, the Ministry of the Interior explained that it will be up to the Attorney General’s Office to transfer the assets or real estate to the name of the State of Nicaragua.
The Ortega regime promotes relentless persecution against the Catholic Church, with the expulsion and imprisonment of priests, the prohibition of religious activities and the suspension of diplomatic relations with the Holy See.
Pope Francis classified the Sandinista government as a “gross dictatorship” in a recent interview with the Argentine portal Infobae, noting “a certain imbalance in the person who directs” the Central American country.