Nicaragua's constitution declares that the nation has no official religion, but one of the country's evangelical leaders believes that some public-school textbooks violate this neutrality.
Baptist minister Sixto Ulloa, a former Sandinista legislator, maintains that Minister of Education Humberto Belli is attempting to implement mandatory study of Roman Catholic doctrine. Ulloa cites production by the Catholic hierarchy of a five-book series, "Education in the Faith," for public schools. One volume bears Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo's picture. Schools require students to buy the books at a Catholic bookstore, Ulloa says.
Ulloa was among a group of evangelicals who in 1994 opposed on constitutional grounds Belli's plan for elective after-school religion classes (CT, Oct. 24, 1994, p. 86). Such teaching, these evangelicals maintained, would naturally reflect the government's strong Catholic leanings.
Belli, who also served as education minister in Violeta Chamorro's administration, denies Ulloa's charges. He says the government neither prohibits nor demands religious education, but parents have the right to request such instruction for their children. "We are and will be respectful of the nonreligious state," he told Managua's daily La Prensa.
Education Ministry Adviser Ana Luisa Sanchez dismissed Ulloa's accusations as an attempt to divide the Christian community and pit evangelicals against the new Arnoldo Aleman government, all for Sandinista political gain.
Ulloa's "false and absurd" statements, Belli says, "are dangerous because they are an attack against stability and respect for religion that has always existed in Nicaraguan society."
Copyright © 1997 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.
Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here.
Our digital archives are a work in progress. Let us know if corrections need to be made.
Annual & Monthly subscriptions available.
- Print & Digital Issues of CT magazine
- Complete access to every article on ChristianityToday.com
- Unlimited access to 65+ years of CT’s online archives
- Member-only special issues
- Learn more
More from this Issue
Read These Next
- TrendingAmerican Christians Should Stand with Israel under AttackWhile we pray for peace, we need moral clarity about this war.
- From the MagazineI Cried Out to the Name Demons Fear MostHow Jesus rescued a New Age psychic from spiritual darkness.
- Editor's PickI Didn’t Want a Baby. I Wanted This Baby.Mourning miscarriage means acknowledging the particular life that’s been lost.