(ZENIT News / Managua, 04.14. 2026) – Churches in Nicaragua were filled with the faithful during Holy Week 2026 despite the restrictions and persecution imposed by the Nicaraguan dictatorship for the fourth consecutive year. On Holy Thursday and Good Friday, thousands of people participated in the celebrations, which were limited to the atriums and interiors of churches.
Since 2023, the Sandinista regime has prohibited processions in public, a policy criticized by several countries as a violation of religious freedom.
Catholics in Managua attended the Stations of the Cross in the inner gardens of the Metropolitan Cathedral under police surveillance. After the Stations of the Cross, Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes, who never refers to the government or religious restrictions, estimated that 25,000 people were gathered in the Cathedral square.
On Good Friday, Vice President Rosario Murillo called the presence of the faithful in churches a «deployment.» She commented that information about the government’s regulations regarding religious life «distorts» the reality of the country and criticized «those who call themselves pastors,» from whom «toads and snakes» come «from their souls or their mouths.»
Father Edwing Román, a Nicaraguan priest exiled in Florida, told ACI Prensa that Holy Week in Nicaragua «was celebrated in an atypical way» due to a lack of religious freedom. «Thank God, the churches were full of faithful of all ages even while enduring the presence of the police and infiltrators.»
Despite the restrictions, Father Román noted that «thousands of faithful attended churches despite the regime’s extensive propaganda urging people to visit the country’s beaches and tourist resorts, most of which are owned by Sandinistas, that is, individuals aligned with the dictatorship.»
Cardinal Brenes declared on Holy Thursday to the media present inside the church, after concluding Mass at the Managua Cathedral, that Bishops from all over the country had sent him images «showing the level of participation in their Cathedrals, as well as in their parishes.» He added: «What we observe here is the tremendous work of the priests and that the people, with complete generosity and absolute freedom, have been able to come to their churches and are living their faith, which, I believe, is the most important thing.»
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