Nicaragua: Dictatorship reduced priests in the diocese of Rolando Álvarez to less than half

A priest in exile assures that “the hatred and fury” of the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and his wife and vice president Rosario Murillo in Nicaragua, against Bishop Rolando Álvarez, also exiled, is the cause of the drastic reduction from 62 to 28 active priests in the diocese of Matagalpa.

In statements to the Nicaraguan newspaper Mosaicthe priest, whom they do not identify for security reasons, explains that the dictatorship does not support Bishop Álvarez because they “could not break him even with exile, because they assume that the bishop continues to shepherd the two dioceses, and they do not want to that”.

Matagalpa is the diocese of Mons. Rolando Álvarez, bishop defender of human rights and critic of the dictatorship, who is also Apostolic Administrator of Estelí. The prelate was arrested, confined to his house and sentenced to 26 years in prison in a questioned judicial process. He was deported in January of this year to Rome.

Estelí has ​​not had a bishop since mid-2021. In the absence of Bishop Álvarez, Father Frutos Valle was appointed as administrator to everythingin charge of looking after diocesan assets. This priest has also been detained by the dictatorship.

Martha Patricia Molina, lawyer and researcher in exile who presented the fifth installment of her report on August 15 Nicaragua, A persecuted Church?which accounts for 870 attacks by the dictatorship against the Catholic Church in the country since 2018, told EWTN Noticias that the regime “intends to completely end” the diocese of Matagalpa.

Molina commented that although Bishop Álvarez has remained silent in exile, “the dictatorship has not managed to completely put an end to the diocese that has been sustained, despite the fact that its bishop is abroad.”

Arrests and exiles in Matagalpa

According to Mosaico, the forced reduction of the clergy of the diocese began in January 2021, when the dictatorship prevented Fray Miguel Parra, a Capuchin tertiary of Venezuelan origin who was one of the vicars of the San Pedro Apóstol cathedral in Matagalpa, from returning to the country. as well as the priest of Salvadoran origin, Fray José Lemus Aguilar, of the Order of Friars Minor, who worked in the Immaculate Heart of Mary parish.

In August 2022, the dictatorship ordered the closure of Matagalpa radio stations and detained Father Uriel Antonio Vallejos, from the Jesús de la Divina Misericordia Parish in Sébaco.

In the early morning of August 4, 2022, Vallejos was taken to the Nuestra Señora de Fátima Interdiocesan Seminary in Managua, and simultaneously the police locked Bishop Álvarez in his episcopal house in Matagalpa, along with four priests, a deacon, two seminarians and four laymen.

Between August and September 2022, four priests fled the country. Only the priests Vallejos and Erick Mauricio Díaz Fernández made it public. Three more priests went into exile in January 2023.

Meanwhile, the bishop and priests of Matagalpa who were imprisoned spent 174 days in these circumstances, until, on February 9, 2023, the dictatorship banished 222 political prisoners to the United States, including five priests, including three of them. Matagalpa: Sadiel Eugarrios, José Luis Díaz and Ramiro Tijerino.

Also in the group was Father Óscar Benavides, who was part of the Matagalpa clergy in 2020, but in 2022 he was incardinated in the diocese of Siuna.

Also in that group of exiles was deacon Raúl Vega, who was ordained a priest on May 11, 2024 in Rome.

Two priests who were studying outside Nicaragua were also unable to return to the country in 2023.

In October of that year, the dictatorship banished another 12 priests to Rome. Various arrests at Christmas time and the end of the year led to another priest going into exile in January 2024.

In January 2024, Bishop Álvarez, Bishop Isidoro Mora, bishop of Siuna, 15 priests – including 3 from Matagalpa (Óscar Escoto, Jáder Guido and Fernando Calero) – and two seminarians were exiled and arrived in Rome.

Until his episcopal appointment in 2021, Bishop Mora was also a priest of Matagalpa.

On August 2, 2024, the priest of Mexican origin and member of the “Serviam” Missionary Fraternity, Raúl Villegas, was arrested and his whereabouts are still unknown. In her report, Martha Patricia Molina points out that the priest is in a condition of “forced disappearance.” Another priest had to go into exile that same day.

A few days ago the dictatorship detained seven priests, 6 of them from Matagalpa, who were later exiled and sent to Rome on August 7. The priests of Matagalpa are Edgard Sacasa, Ulises Vega, Marlon Velásquez, Víctor Godoy, Jairo Pravia and Harvin Tórrez.

On August 15, the priest of the San Juan Bautista Parish in Muy Muy, Danny García, was arrested by the police. His whereabouts, as well as that of Father Denis Martínez, arrested on August 11, are unknown.

In 2023, a priest left the priesthood and four others have died: Freddy Zambrana, Dámaso Suazo, Bayardo Zeledón and Pablo Espinoza.

Restrictions and threats of the Nicaraguan dictatorship against the Church

Mosaico reports that some parishes have reported that the police have given the order that masses be brief, lasting no more than half an hour.

Other restrictions are the prohibition of taking Communion to the sick in several communities and the obligation not to mention Mons. Rolando Álvarez in masses.

Martha Patricia Molina told EWTN Noticias that “the threat that the dictatorship makes through the Sandinista police is that it will imprison them if they disobey the order. “It is extreme persecution.”

This entire situation has caused various ecclesial groups to stop meeting in churches and the bells are no longer ringing for Mass in the 28 parishes of the diocese of Matagalpa.

The 28 priests who remain active are not enough to serve the faithful of the same number of parishes where there are, in total, 630 rural communities.

However, despite everything, the exiled priest tells Mosaico that “as long as there are faithful who keep the flame of hope alive, the diocese of Matagalpa will continue to be a symbol of resistance against tyranny.”