David Agren

The Missionaries of Charity have been expelled from Nicaragua, the latest in a series of attacks on the Catholic Church and its ministries from the Central American country's increasingly repressive government.

The trip to Honduras showcased some of the factors driving migration in recent years, including violence, poverty and a loss of hope in Honduras because of poor governance and corruption.

Dominican Sr. María Isabel Hernández Rea, 52, was struck in the leg Nov. 18 when her humanitarian relief team came under gunfire while attempting to take food to a group of Indigenous Tzotzil people who had been forced to flee a hamlet in the municipality of Aldama due to a land dispute.

Their decades-long ministry has focused on being a witness, living in solidarity with the poor and raising awareness of what they consider the corrosive effects of U.S. policy toward Latin America.