Nicaragua placed on Watch List of top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – For the first time ever, the Central American country of Nircaragua has been added to the Open Doors World Watch List of top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted. The Open Doors international Christian organization raises awareness of global Christian persecution, and ranked Nicaragua 50 on this year’s World Watch List.

Although Nicaragua’s population of 6.8 million people largely identifies as Christian, believers and churches have been targeted by President Daniel Ortega and his regime for speaking out against the abuses being perpetrated by the government.

“Churches that speak out against injustice and human rights violations by the government are viewed as destabilizing agents,” Open Doors UK said in a website statement about the situation facing Nicaraguan Christians. “This makes them a target for hostility, which can include intimidation, harassment, monitoring, arrests and attacks.

“The government is particularly hostile to churches that provided shelter and care for people during the widespread protests which broke out against the country’s dictatorial regime in 2018,” Open Doors said. “Recent elections and changes to the law have been used as a pretext to label church leaders as terrorists and coup-plotters. This has led to increasing restrictions on churches and other Christian organizations.”

In particular, Open Doors reports, Christian schools and TV stations and faith-based charities have been closed, believers have been arbitrarily detained and prosecuted. “The aim is to silence the Christian voice and make them lose credibility among the population,” Open Doors said. “Please keep praying for your brothers and sisters in Nicaragua.”

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