The bishops of Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala are inviting the faithful to participate in a day of prayer for the Catholic Church in Nicaragua on Sunday, Dec. 8, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.

“On ​​the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, Nicaraguan Catholics lift their voices in a great festival of praise known as ‘la gritería,’” the bishops of Central America said in a Nov. 29 statement. On this occasion, they pointed out, “in Nicaragua and throughout Central America, the traditional Marian devotion is expressed that is so deeply rooted in the piety of our people.” 

The “gritería” (clamor) is celebrated on Dec. 7 in Nicaragua on the eve of the feast of the Immaculate Conception, when the faithful walk the streets and visit altars erected in honor of the Virgin Mary praying, singing, and lighting fireworks while shouting “Who causes so much joy?” and responding with “The conception of Mary!”

In their statement, the bishops expressed their “profound solidarity and communion with the people of God in Nicaragua, who often face a challenging reality.”

In their text, the prelates encouraged Catholics in each jurisdiction or parish to “join in prayer this cry of faith and hope, peace and freedom, which the faithful people direct to their mother and patroness. Our thoughts are with you, Nicaraguan brothers and sisters. We fraternally join your outcry, which respectfully hopes to find an answer.”

The bishops’ announcement came just prior to the Dec. 2 letter Pope Francis wrote to the Catholics of Nicaragua in which he encouraged them to be certain that faith and hope “work miracles.”

Relentless Persecution

The persecution of the Catholic Church by the dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega and his wife and “co-president,” Rosario Murillo, seems to have no end.

A few days ago, the regime approved a reform of the country’s constitution that further restricts religious freedom and freedom of expression in the country, which are already quite limited. Among the most controversial measures is a provision that requires that “religious organizations must remain free of all foreign control.”

In mid-November, the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship expelled from the country the bishop of Jinotega and president of the country’s bishops’ conference, Carlos Enrique Herrera Gutiérrez, who had criticized a mayor, an Ortega supporter, who interfered with Mass by blasting loud music in front of the diocesan cathedral.

Bishop Herrera Gutiérrez and other bishops, priests, and religious have been subject to constant monitoring, persecution, and abduction as well as imprisonment in deplorable conditions.

Numerous members of the clergy have been deported from the country, stripped of their Nicaraguan citizenship and made stateless, as is the case of the bishop of Matagalpa, Rolando Álvarez, who was exiled to Rome in January along with Isidoro Mora, the bishop of Siuna; 15 priests; and two seminarians.

Under the socialist regime, Catholics have been silenced and public expressions of faith, such as prayers for the persecuted and other pastoral and spiritual activities, have been prohibited.

Between 2018 and 2024, 870 attacks against the Catholic Church were recorded in Nicaragua, as documented in the report “Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church?” by exiled lawyer and researcher Martha Patricia Molina.