The Matagalpa Police increased the siege against the Catholic Church and its main leader in the area, Monsignor Rolando Álvarez. On the morning of this Wednesday, August 3, the offices of Cáritas and the Ecclesiastical Curia, where the bishop resides, were surrounded by soldiers at the service of the Nicaraguan dictatorship.
Through videos and photos published by citizens, the complaint was made public against the Ortega-Murillo regime for having the street of the Episcopal Curia and Caritas besieged. This situation occurs days after the dictatorship decided to close the Catholic stations that were in charge of Monsignor Álvarez.
Related news: Media of the Vatican echoes the closure of Catholic stations in Nicaragua
This August 3, the Vatican News portal, of the Holy See, echoed the denunciation of the closure of six radio stations of the Diocese of Matagalpa. The decision of the Nicaraguan regime is based on the alleged lack of operating permits for the religious media that operated in the north of the country.
The closed radio stations are Radio Hermanos, Radio Santa Lucía, from Ciudad Darío; Catholic Radio, from Sébaco; Radio San José, from Matiguás; and Radio Monte Carmelo, from Río Blanco; all belonging to the department of Matagalpa.
The closure of Catholic radio stations is added to the closure of TV Merced, from the same Diocese of Matagalpa; and the Catholic Channel of Nicaragua, owned by the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua (CEN). These actions of the dictatorship are part of the repressive escalation against the Catholic Church, its priests and bishops.
Related news: Latin American Episcopal Conference denounces Ortega’s “new coup” against the Catholic Church
That same day, the Police also deployed a special forces operation to take over the Infant Jesus of Prague chapel, which is adjacent to the Divina Misericordia parish house, in Sébaco, and seize the equipment of the radio station that operates on the site, according to Some parishes in the area and Father Uriel Vallejos, a priest who remains under police siege, denounced on social networks.
In recent months, the Ortega dictatorship has launched a persecution against the Catholic Church and its main leaders. At the beginning of May, the Police had initiated a wave of siege against the priests, among them is Father Harving Padilla, parish priest of the San Juan Bautista church in Masaya, Father Uriel Vallejos, parish priest in Sébaco, Matagalpa, as well as Father Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, the latter had to take refuge in a Managua temple after several days of police persecution.
