Nicaragua declares Jesuit order illegal and will confiscate its property

Nicaragua declared the Jesuit religious order illegal and ordered the confiscation of its property in the latest attack against the Catholic Church and opposition figures.

MEXICO CITY — Nicaragua’s government on Wednesday declared the Jesuit religious order illegal and ordered the confiscation of all its property.

The move comes one week after the government of President Daniel Ortega confiscated the Jesuit-run University of Central America in Nicaragua, arguing it was a “center of terrorism.”

The confiscation order published Wednesday claimed the Roman Catholic order had failed to comply with tax reporting.

It was the latest in a series of increasingly authoritarian actions by the Nicaraguan government against the Catholic Church and opposition figures. The Jesuit order, known as the Society of Jesus, has condemned the measures.

The University of Central America in Nicaragua was a hub for 2018 protests against the Ortega regime.