In Nicaragua, a massive wave of arrests has taken place since December 20, even arousing the concern of Pope Francis. Priest Gustavo Sandino, from the department of Jinotega (north), is the last to be arrested, on New Year’s Eve, according to lawyer specializing in Nicaraguan Church affairs Martha Molina, exiled in the United States . The first in this series, arrested on December 20, is the bishop of Siuna, Isidoro Mora.
Pope Francis said Monday in St. Peter’s Square that he follows “with deep concern what is happening in Nicaragua, where bishops and priests have been deprived of their freedom.”
Exile rather than prison
In Nicaragua, almost half of the 6.3 million inhabitants are Catholic. Neither the government of Nicaragua nor the police have yet discussed the situation of religious people in the country.
Another prelate, Monsignor Rolando Alvarez, has been detained since August 2022. He was sentenced in February to twenty-six years in prison for treason. He preferred prison to exile, refusing to leave for the United States with 222 political prisoners expelled and stripped of their Nicaraguan nationality.
The conflict between Ortega and the Church
A dozen opposition organizations in exile called on Sunday the international community to assume “once and for all its responsibility for the protection of human rights in Nicaragua”. President Daniel Ortega, a former guerrilla in power since 2007, is in conflict with the Catholic Church. The Vatican closed its embassy in March and Pope Francis called Ortega’s government a “gross dictatorship.”
Relations between the church and government deteriorated during the 2018 protests, after Ortega accused religious leaders of supporting the opposition in what he saw as an attempted coup. The demonstrations, accompanied by roadblocks and clashes between opponents and supporters of the government, left more than 300 dead, according to the UN. The Nicaraguan government has also tightened control over its opponents in recent years. Thousands of organizations, including Catholic universities and the local Red Cross, have been deprived of legal personality and their assets expropriated.