As you heard today on Register Radio - produced by EWTN's National Catholic Register and broadcast Sundays at 11:00 am on Catholic 540-AM Divine Mercy Radio - life for all Catholics in Nicaragua continues to be very difficult under the regime of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.

On August 1, 2022, Ortega's government - through its Nicaraguan Institute of Telecommunications and Post Office, (TELCOR) - shut down six Catholic radio stations in the Diocese of Matagalpa to repress the Diocesan stations’ broadcasts critical of Ortega’s severe rule in the Central American country.

Ortega’s government had previously shut down the country’s Catholic newspapers. In May 2022, the regime censored Nicaragua's Catholic Channel, removing it from the country’s cable TV system.

Catholic 540-AM Divine Mercy Radio is praying for our fellow Catholic broadcasters, media professionals as well as the listeners of Radio Hermanos, Radio Nuestra Señora de Lourdes de Dalia, Radio Nuestra Señora de Fátima de Rancho Grande, Radio Allens de San Dionisio, Radio Monte Carmelo de Río Blanco and Radio San José Matiguá. May they soon be allowed to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with their audiences.

On August 19th, Nicaraguan police raided the episcopal residence and arrested Catholic Bishop Rolando Álvarez, along with several priests and seminarians, in Matagalpa, one of Nicaragua’s northern main cities. The Catholic Church there (and its media outlets) has been one of the last free voices to speak out for the Nicaraguan people against Ortega’s many abuses of power.

Catholic 540-AM Divine Mercy Radio is praying for Bishop Álvarez and all those arrested as well as all the Nicaraguan citizens who are being tested by this oppressive government. May God grant them the knowledge to do what is right, the strength to persevere in these trying times and the faith to remember God is always with them.