© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Rolando Alvarez, bishop of the Diocese of Matagalpa and a critic of the Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, proven praying at Managua’s Catholic church the place he was taking refuge, alleging he had been focused by the police, in Managua, Nicarag
By Ismael Lopez
SAN JOSE (Reuters) -Nicaraguan police on Friday arrested three extra Catholic clergymen, bringing the variety of clergymen detained this week to no less than 9, based on sources near the native church management, together with one who’s a high-ranking church member.
The three sources, who requested anonymity for concern of arrest, mentioned two of the clergymen have been taken into custody for publicly praying for jailed Bishop Rolando Alvarez, probably the most distinguished critic of President Daniel Ortega.
The pair “have been arrested for refusing to cease mentioning Bishop Alvarez of their sermons,” one of many sources mentioned, naming Marco Diaz and Bayardo Aguilar as among the many newest clerical detainees. The supply mentioned Aguilar was later launched.
The federal government has not issued any statements explaining any alleged crimes dedicated by the clergymen or causes for his or her arrests. However relationship again to protests 5 years in the past, Ortega has accused church leaders of looking for to overthrow his authorities.
Native media outlet Confidencial has beforehand reported that no less than two different clergymen arrested this week have been additionally launched shortly after being detained.
In a while Friday, one other distinguished priest, Silvio Fonseca, was arrested after main non secular companies at his parish within the capital Managua, based on two of the sources.
“We do not need to additional complicate issues, we’re in reflection,” mentioned one of many sources, a high-ranking church member, who confirmed all the latest arrests.
“We’re looking for a approach to assist them, as a lot as potential, attempting to achieve the authorities to see what are the costs,” mentioned the supply.
The federal government’s press workplace, run by Vice President Rosario Murillo, Ortega’s spouse, didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Alvarez, the bishop of Matagalpa, forcefully criticized the federal government’s lethal response to mass protests that broke out in 2018, and was convicted of treason and sentenced to a 26-year jail time period earlier this yr.
Over the previous few years, Ortega’s authorities has focused leaders of the Catholic church, a crackdown which officers previously have mentioned was wanted to punish treasonous conduct or different alleged crimes.
On Thursday, two extra high-ranking clergymen have been arrested, each with shut ties to Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes, the archbishop of Managua and the highest-ranking determine within the nation’s Catholic hierarchy.
Brenes has made no public pronouncements on the arrests, and he declined to remark when Reuters reached him by cellphone on Friday.
Final week, the police arrested Bishop Isidro Mora of the Siuna diocese, making him the second bishop to be detained after Alvarez’s detention in 2022.
The enforcement actions towards Nicaragua’s Catholic church, together with broad surveillance of clergymen, intensified earlier this yr, Reuters reported, after Pope Francis condemned the federal government led by Ortega as a “gross dictatorship” and the president responded by severing ties with the Vatican.
At the very least 11 clergymen, bishops and seminarians are presently behind bars within the nation, based on exiled Nicaraguan researcher Martha Patricia Molina, who publishes information of what she describes because the persecution of the Catholic Church underneath Ortega.