Victim of persecution without precedent in the history of Nicaragua, the Nicaraguan Catholic Church remains faithful to its mission and fights to raise its voice in defense of human dignity. “The Church is strengthened, and continues with his prophetic mission. be inside, be outsidethe voice is always there”, highlights the priest Erick Díaz, who went into exile in the United States due to the persecution of the dictatorship.
Although for years, the regime headed by Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo has maintained a confrontational discourse against a Church that left behind the style used by Cardinal Miguel Obando y Bravo during his last yearsincreased his attacks from June, accusing priests Y holding them afteruntil passing to open detentionY submission to spurious trials identical to those applied to political prisoners.
In an interview with the program This weekwhich is broadcast online to circumvent the regime’s television censorship, Díaz remembered: “In all times, the church has been persecuted but no one has ever been able to shut her up. On the contrary: the Church is strengthened, and continues with his prophetic mission. be inside, be outside, the voice is always there, even if they are imprisoned, their voice —or their silence— resounds like lightning. Here we are”.
He stressed that both the parishioners and the rest of the priests have the right to verify the real situation of Monsignor Rolando José Álvarez, Bishop of the Diocese of Matagalpa and Apostolic Administrator of Estelí, who has a house for jail since August 19.
“What we know only about the situation of his Excellency, Monsignor Rolando José, is that he is in his house, but he is not with his family,” he assured, explaining that the religious is in what was his parents’ house, but he is alone, because they already died. “A lot of people thought, ‘That’s cool. He is at his parents’ house. Monsignor is fine. He is cared for by his family. No. Monsignor Rolando is at his parents’ house, but he is without communication… only police officers accompany him, ”insisted the priest, pastor of the San José Obrero church in El Tuma – La Dalia, in Matagalpa..
Graphing what other priests and many parishioners feel, Father Díaz said that Monsignor Álvarez’s status “is uncertain”, because he has not been seen since August 19, when he was kidnapped along with other priests. “We would like to see him, to really say ‘monsignor is fine’, but we have not seen him”, to confirm his physical condition.
“We would like to see him, but to this day we have no knowledge of him, so that is our demand. We have always said where is Monsignor? What is his condition? Because the faithful, the diocese, the people, the priests, we all have the right and we want to know what his condition is, but there is not much information. It only says ‘he’s fine’, but that ‘fine’, I don’t know what it refers to, ”he reiterated.
More spurious judgments
Since his condition of exile, Díaz considered it “unusual” that his brothers in faith, Ramiro Tijerino, José Luis Díaz, Sadiel Eugarrios, Raúl Vega, Darwin Leiva, Melking Centeno and Sergio Cadena, are scheduled to go to trial on December 1for “conspiracy against national integrity, and for spreading false news.”
“We already know that justice in our country is kidnapped. We all… know that the situation and the laws of our country are biased”, he assured, recalling that, from their human condition, priests can sin, “but we are not criminals. We have not violated justice.”
His position is that “if justice were correct, blind, and unbiased, we would submit too. If we commit a crime, we submit to the laws, because we are not above the law in any way. We are citizens, and we are also here to abide by the laws.”
Díaz considered it “unusual” and “unfair” that Monsignor Álvarez and the other priests are in prison, insisting that “everyone is innocent. They have not committed any crime, and they are being judged simply for being voices that have defended the people, who have been accompanying the people, and have always kept in mind the Social Doctrine of the Church. They are innocent,” he repeated.
Although it is not a crime to aspire to public office, the priest recalled that he and his brothers in the faith are committed to preaching their religious beliefs, which includes the defense of human dignity, and that none of them aspires to be mayor, deputy , and less president, in addition to recounting how the Matagalpa diocese had to stop the preparation of the diocesan synod that was in process.
And ‘Nicodemus’ told him, run away!
Despite his investiture, and the fact that by law, none of his activities is contrary to the legal regulations in force in Nicaragua, Father Erick Díaz had to make the decision to leave everything behind, and flee the country so as not to suffer the same fate. than hundreds of citizens who fill the prisons of the regime for thinking differently.
He recalls that the harassment against him began on August 14, when they were preparing to receive the pilgrim image of Our Lady of Fatima, to distribute it in the diocese, which that day was scheduled to close the Marian Jubilee, but at six in the Tomorrow, while he was getting ready, “a police patrol arrived to tell me that I was strictly forbidden to go out to Matagalpa, to the cathedral.”
His reaction to knowing he had to stay locked in the parish It was a “surprise, because I had done absolutely nothing”, so he spent the whole day locked up, with a police patrol parked at the entrance of the parish. The next day, he had a mission in a community, and the patrol arrived at the community where he had to be.
On Saturday, he managed to get out when the police officers were barely arriving, so they could only take pictures of him and hurl insults at him. The next day, Sunday, he said mass in the presence of police officers dressed in civilian clothes, who took photographs and made videos, which convinced him that “the situation was getting worse.”
He adds that “someone inside” – whom he calls ‘the good Nicodemus‘- had told him that “for security reasons we cannot expose people”, in addition to informing him that they had him on a list of priests, until on Tuesday he confirmed that they were going to capture him that day, and that the best thing was for him to escape , so within half an hour it came out “practically as it was. Only with my personal things, the most basic, but without clothes, without anything. He had to go out to protect my life and my safety, “he said.
