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At least 11 Churchmen have been detained by police and paramilitaries over a weeklong assault in northern Nicaragua, depleting the already demoralized Diocese of Matagalpa — whose leader, Bishop Rolando Álvarez, lives in exile.
Nine priests and a deacon were detained Aug. 1 and 2 — with some taken from parishes and parish residences — according to independent Nicaragua media. An octogenarian priest was also detained July 27 in the Diocese of Estelí, where Bishop Álvarez is apostolic administrator.
“The Diocese of Matagalpa practically no longer has any clergy. We’ve been expelled, pressured and forced to flee. Parishes are on their own,” an exiled priest, familiar with the diocese, said.
“(The Church) has been attacked from all sides. They’ve removed clergy, they’ve frozen its accounts. The Church has survived,” he added. But of the ruling Sandinista regime, he said, “Their ultimate goal is is to exterminate the diocesean Church where Monsignor Rolando (Álvarez) is still bishop.”
The arrests reflected the deepening repression of the Catholic Church in the Central American country, which has careened toward totalitarianism. President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosarillo Murillo, continue to crack down on dissent, close spaces for civil society and infringe on freedom of worship — with priests being spied upon and forced to watch their words during Mass.
Church observers lack a cogent explanation for the latest attack on the Catholic Church, which followed a period of constant, low-level hostilities. It came amid turmoil in Venezuela — an ally of Nicaragua.
Bishop José Antonio Canales Motiño of Danlí, Honduras, accused the Nicaraguan regime of “taking advantage of the distraction of what’s happening in Venezuela” to persecute priests in Nicaragua without international media attention, according to independent news outlet Despacho 505.
The most recent assault on the Matagalpa Church coincided with the second anniversary of the August 2022 detention of Bishop Álvarez, who was taken during a raid on the diocesan curia where he had been holed up with 11 colleagues for nearly two weeks as they protested the seizure of Catholic media outlets.
The bishop was convicted on sham charges in January 2023 and sent into exile a year later — along with 18 other Churchmen, including Bishop Isidoro Mora of Siuna. Bishop Mora was detained after publicly offering prayers for Bishop Álvarez at a celebration of the Eucharist in the Matagalpa Cathedral. Bishop Álvarez has not spoken publicly since being exiled.
“The Ortega-Murillo dictatorship hates him and sees him as a dangerous man,” Martha Patricia Molina, a Nicaraguan lawyer in exile who tracks persecution of the Catholic Church, said.
The removal of Bishop Álvarez from Matagalpa and the ongoing government attacks have left the diocese with a skeleton staff.
Molina shared figures with OSV News showing 70 priests were serving the diocese — 57 Nicaraguans and 13 foreigners — prior to the regime’s attacks on the Church. Just 22 priests remain to cover a diocese of 615,858 Catholics and 29 parishes. Four of the priests died; two have retired, but continue to celebrate the sacraments; five were “kidnapped,” while three are missing. Thirty of the priests were forced into exile.
“The majority of the kidnapped priests were taken violently,” Molina said.
