Pope asks Nicaraguan government to let expelled nuns return

FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis greets the media on board the papal plane en route to the Kazakh capital of Nur-Sultan at the start of his three-day visit to the Central Asian country, September 13, 2022. Filippo Monteforte/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (Reuters) - Pope Francis asked the Nicaraguan government on Thursday to allow expelled nuns of the order founded by Mother Teresa to return to Nicaragua, saying they were harmless "revolutionaries of the gospel."

The 18 nuns of the Missionaries of Charity order were taken to the border with Costa Rica in July as part of a crackdown on the Catholic Church by the government of Daniel Ortega.