Vatican closes embassy in Nicaragua after Ortega’s crackdown

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican has closed its embassy in Nicaragua after the country’s government proposed suspending diplomatic relations. The closure, and the departure of the Vatican envoy, is the latest chapter in a crackdown on the Catholic Church by the government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.

The care of the Vatican’s embassy was entrusted to the Italian government, according to diplomatic conventions, Vatican News, the Holy See’s official media outlet, reported Saturday that diplomats of the European Union, Germany, France and Italy gave Diouf a farewell salute before he left. Last month, a Nicaraguan bishop received a 26-year prison sentence after he refused to board an airplane that flew other priests to exile in the United States.

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