Over the weekend of Feb. 8-9, the government ordered military and police to surround the legislative building, and on Feb. 9, the military forced its way into congressional chambers in a show of force.

On Nov. 21, Ortega supporters tried to enter St. John the Baptist Parish in Masaya, south of Managua, the capital, forcing churchgoers to barricade the doors with pews.

In a statement issued after meeting on September 9-11, the Catholic bishops of Central America and southern Mexico issued a call for everyone to better care for the needs of migrants.

A crackdown on drug cartels, started 11 years ago, has claimed more than 200,000 lives and left more than 30,000 people missing.

At least six armed individuals entered the shelter in the early morning hours of May 6 and stole some of the migrants' meager possessions, including cash, cellphones and ID cards.

Inspired by the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and gatherings of the Latin American bishops in Medellin, Colombia, and Puebla, Mexico, Bishop Samuel Ruiz Garcia showed a preferred option for the poor, rubbed the rich the wrong way and ran afoul of the Vatican with his pastoral approach, especially with his ordination of married, indigenous deacons.