Religion, Faith, and the Common Good
My name is Francisco Javier Bautista Lara, Nicaraguan writer and Catholic by upbringing and conviction. I want to write about a topic that for some time has been a tool of manipulation and speculation, and is currently part of a campaign some national and foreign agents are waging to discredit and destabilize Nicaragua. There is no justifiable basis for this; it is simply being orchestrated to manipulate emotions and the profoundly religious and Christian sentiments of the Nicaraguan people. I am referring to the allegations of “religious persecution” here.
First, it must be clarified that when one speaks of “persecution,” for example in one’s position or occupation, on the basis of religious or any other belief, or on the basis of sex or social or ethnic background, or because one is Indigenous or Afrodescendant, to constitute persecution it must be a social or institutional attack for that specific reason.
Pope Francis has spoken clearly about the concept of religious persecution of religious minorities or Christians in general. He says that it is persecution over the mere fact of practicing one’s faith, over a specific belief.
Therefore, we cannot argue that there is religious or any other form of persecution when the actions of society, the State, or institutions respond to the civil, administrative, or criminal liability of individuals who, regardless of their religious affiliation or practice, religious belief, or their social or ethnic origin or sex, break the law and act against the common good.
Thus, in Nicaragua we can assert that not only is there no religious persecution, there is a profound promotion of religious beliefs, even of various minorities. Nicaragua embodies what is a Christian Model and promotes an extraordinarily diverse array of Christian and Catholic forms of expression, from the traditional to the customary, and out of the faith of the majority of the Nicaraguan people.
There is no doubt that 90% of the Nicaraguan population is Christian, and half of those 90% are certainly Catholic by upbringing, with different levels of practice and presence in religious activities.
I cannot say, nor is there absolutely any evidence, that any Catholic or Christian has had their religious practices cut off, nor are they attacked for those religious practices. On the contrary. There are multiple and diverse promotions of the Christian faith in Nicaragua, in abundant and growing ways.
We Nicaraguans can express our Catholic or Christian faith in all possible forms, including the following variety: Public celebrations of the Patron Saints of different towns, the celebration of the Immaculate Conception or “la Purísima,” religious Christmas celebrations, the public display of nativity scenes and altars to the birth of Jesus, and the public display of altars to the Virgin Mary in Managua and the main cities and plazas throughout the country.
This multitude of cultural and religious expression—the religious celebrations of the Catholic churches—and everything symbolic of that faith, is promoted far and wide by both government institutions and society in general.
I believe that Nicaragua is one of the Latin American countries that does the most to promote the exercise of religious practices based on freedom for each citizen. Therefore, one cannot speak of religious persecution when the State or society, through their institutions, responds to the individual behavior of persons who violate the criminal, administrative, or civil laws of the country, or incite lawbreaking activities.
These are matters of individual liability, such as in the commission of a common crime, such as rape, or for the commission of an economic crime, such as theft, or a crime that threatens the stability of a country or constitutes treason and therefore threatens the common good. These are all examples of private citizens bearing individual liability for their actions. No rank or position, or social, religious, economic, or business standing exempts one from such liability; nor does holding the last name of an oligarchical family or affiliation with any tradition negate that liability. When one incurs individual liability before the State for personal behavior, it is proper under the rule of law for one to answer for it.
Therefore, the specific statement that there is no kind of religious persecution in Nicaragua can be proven. What does exist in Nicaragua, is the legitimate response of the State and society to curtail individual behavior and prevent individuals from evading responsibility, particularly when their behavior threatens the common good.
