Ortega Orders More Arrests of Priests in Nicaragua

Police of the Ortega-Murillo regime detained at least six priests between the morning and 2 p.m. on Friday, August 2, in various parishes of the Diocese of Matagalpa.

Parishioners, in distress, confirmed to Mosaico CSI the detention of priests Jairo Pravia and Victor Godoy, the parish priest and parochial vicar, respectively, of the Immaculate Conception of Mary Parish in Sebaco, Matagalpa.

Priests Antonio López of the Parish of Our Lord of Veracruz and Marlon Velasquez Flores, vicar of the Santa Lucía Parish, both in Ciudad Darío, were also detained. The parish priest of the latter, Father Vicente Martinez, was forced into exile at the end of August 2022.

Citizen reports in Darío explain that the Police are maintaining a presence at the San Pedro Parish, allegedly “waiting for Fray Edilio Javier Cruz,” of the Order of Friars Minor, who was reportedly on a pastoral visit to a rural community.

Meanwhile, in the Parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the municipality of Matiguas, the Police detained priest Raul Villegas.

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Additionally, on social media, people have reported the alleged detention of other priests in various parishes of the Diocese of Matagalpa. However, each case is still being verified.

These detentions add to those of Monsignor Edgar Luis Sacasa Sierra, Vicar of Pastoral; and Monsignor Ulises René Vega Matamoros, Judicial Vicar and Chancellor of the Diocese of Matagalpa, which took place on Thursday, August 1, in a simultaneous operation at the parish houses of San Isidro Labrador and San Ramon Nonato, respectively.

Although the whereabouts of the clerics are unknown, there are suspicions that they were all taken to the Interdiocesan Seminary of Our Lady of Fatima in Managua, which has been used in several cases for the forced confinement of priests.

These new crackdowns against the priests of Matagalpa occur during the Holy Jubilee Year on the occasion of the First Centennial of the Diocese, which will be on December 19.

This article was published in Spanish in Confidencial and translated by Havana Times. To get the most relevant news from our English coverage delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe to The Dispatch.