Dictator Daniel Ortega deported this Sunday, January 14, bishops Rolando Alvarez and Isidoro Mora, 15 priests and 2 seminarians he had kept kidnapped due to the crude persecution he has unleashed against the Catholic Church.
The regime’s gesture is more the result of growing international pressure and diplomatic negotiations with the Vatican than a real distension of the dictatorship. Read here our position on the latest wave of kidnappings of priests by Sandinismo.
Ortega released the information through the following press release:
“The Presidency of the Republic, the Government of Reconciliation and National Unity and the People of Nicaragua , we deeply thank the Holy Father, Pope Francis; the Secretariat of State of the Holy See; its Head, Cardinal, His Most Reverend Eminence, Pietro Parolin, and his work team, for the very respectful and discreet coordinations made to make possible their trip to the Vatican of two Bishops, fifteen Priests and two Seminarians. They have already been received by Vatican Authorities, in compliance with Agreements of Good Faith and Good Will, which seek to promote understanding and improve communication between the Holy See and Nicaragua, for Peace and Good. We recognize the possibilities of frank, direct, prudent and very serious dialogue, a responsible and careful dialogue, which has made it possible to reach this day of Praise to the God of all, who enlightens and guides us to continue cultivating trust and to increase, from the Faith, the tranquility of Spirit and the right to justice and life of the Nicaraguan families”.
As can be seen, the communiqué distorts the facts. The religious have not been released in their country, but unjustly expelled from it; and they were originally kidnapped by the dictatorial regime, subjected to totally irregular judicial processes.
The deportees
According to information published in the Nicaraguan media, such as La Prensa and Confidencial, in addition to Alvarez, bishop of Matagalpa, and Mora, bishop of Siuna, were deported:
Monsignor Carlos Avilés, vicar general of the archdiocese; Monsignor Silvio Fonseca, parish of Santa Faz church, and diocesan vicar of Family, Children and Youth; Héctor Treminio, parish of Santo Cristo de Esquipulas church; Mykel Monterrey, parish of Nuestra Señora de Candelaria church; Raúl Zamora, parish of Jesús de la Divina Misericordia church; Gerardo José Rodríguez, parish of Purísima Concepción church; Monsignor Miguel Mántica, parish of San Francisco de Asís church; and Ismael Serrano, parish of San Miguel Arcángel church.
Also: Óscar Escoto, vicar of the diocese of Matagalpa; Fernando Calero, parish of Nuestra Señora de Fátima in the same diocese; Pablo Villafranca, parish of Nuestro Señor de Veracruz Church in Nindirí; Marcos Díaz Prado, parish of Santo Tomás Apóstol Church in Puerto Corinto; Jader Hernández, parish of Madre del Divino Pastor Church in Nejapa; and José Gustavo Sandino Ochoa, parish of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores Church in Santa María de Pantasma.
And two seminarians: Alester Sáenz and Tony Palacio, kidnapped along with Bishop Mora.
Apparently, there are no more religious deprived of their freedom.
Third group of priest deported
This is the third time that the Sandinista regime deports groups of Catholic priests. Last October 18, it expelled from the country 12 priests it was holding hostage and sent them to the Vatican after another agreement with the Holy See.
Earlier, on February 9, 2023, the authorities sent another 8 priests to the United States, as part of the expulsion of 222 political prisoners, who were also stripped of their citizenship.
Daniel Ortega and his wife unleashed during the last 5 years an intense persecution against the Catholic Church for not submitting to their whims. In 2022 the apostolic nuncio Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag and the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity were expelled from the country; and in October 12 priests who had been held hostage in Sandinista prisons for months. Silvio Baez, auxiliary bishop of Managua, has been in exile since 2019.
In the last five years, the Ortega dictatorship perpetrated more than 740 attacks against Catholics: kidnappings, imprisonments, forced banishments, closure of churches and radio stations, death threats, desecration of temples, and prohibitions to public acts of faith.
In 2023 alone, 275 of these aggressions took place. It was the most violent year against the Church during the five-year period.
The numbers of the persecution can be known thanks to the courageous and careful documentation work of Nicaraguan lawyer Martha Patricia Molina, who participated in one of the Transatlantic Dialogues in October 2022.
