The silence of the Catholic hierarchy in the face of the onslaught of the Ortega regime, which keeps eleven religious in prison – including Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, who has been in jail for more than two months – is questioned by other religious, who consider it necessary that the ecclesial authorities take a firm stand in demanding respect for priests and their ministry. The Ortega persecution has also forced about a dozen priests into exile.
Father “Carlos” has suffered persecution. From somewhere in Nicaragua he agreed to speak with CONFIDENTIAL under anonymity to avoid further reprisals. He feels insecure, he fears that at any moment the repression will reach him, as happened with the eleventh priest kidnapped by the Ortega regime, Father Enrique Martinez Gamboa, expressly accused of alleged “conspiracy” and “propagation of false news”.
For his safety, he avoids going out often and takes care that his biblical messages are not interpreted as an attack on the government; in reality, they are not, the priest clarifies. In the midst of this escalation of arrests against religious and immigration restrictions, Father “Carlos” feels that “we are completely adrift”, and immediately justifies.
When a new attack against the Church occurs, the Catholic hierarchy does not notify them; it has done so with Monsignor Álvarez, with the kidnapped parents, with the parents in exile or with the besieged priests.
“Everything is being kept under strict discretion that we do not know to what extent it is discretion, because we feel that we are alone. There is no Episcopal Conference – of Nicaragua – that can exercise its function and give respect to the care of the priests, to whom they have to be in charge of this situation”, the priest questioned.
In June the regime of Daniel Ortega did the unthinkable for the majority of the Catholic people: he arrested the first priest for a common crime; Father Manuel Garcia. The priest followed Jose Leonard Urbina, both convicted of common crimes. However, the treatment changed with eight religious captives in El Chipote, who are being prosecuted for alleged conspiracy and spreading false news.
At the same time, the Police have prohibited processions and besieged Eucharists as occurred in the patron saint festivities of Masaya. It has also threatened priests and desecrated temples, as happened in the Divina Misericordia church in Sébaco. Before all this context of new direct aggressions of the Government against the Church, this one has preferred the silence.
It is a silence that at the beginning of the repressive escalation, the priests understood as prudence but in the current context, they do not understand it. “Everyone is taking care of himself in his parish,” says Father “José” anonymously from exile. His temple, located in the center-north of the country, remained under surveillance.
Catholic superiors are aware of the situation of Father “José” and Father “Carlos”, two of several priests who are under intimidation in their churches. The hierarchy is concerned about what they are facing, but “there is no belligerence”, Father “Carlos” questions.
Bishops remain silent in the face of repressive escalation
The two priests consulted do not know what is the underlying reason that generates the silence of the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua (CEN) in the face of the intensification of the persecution of the Government against the Church. It could be generated by fear or also because there are bishops in favor of the Government, considers the priest “Carlos”.
The new onslaught of the Ortega regime intensified on August 1, with the closure of ten stations in the Diocese of Matagalpa, led by Monsignor Rolando Álvarez; one of the prophetic voices of the Church. The prelate had been harassed by the Police months before – in May -, causing him to take refuge in a temple in Managua. On Thursday, August 4, dozens of police officers surrounded the Episcopal Curia in Matagalpa and forced Bishop Álvarez to seclude himself inside the building along with his collaborators without access to medicine and food. Thus they resisted for 15 days.
The Police assaulted during the early hours of August 19 the Matagalpa Episcopal Curia and transferred the bishop to a house arrest regimen in Managua, allegedly investigated for “organizing violent groups” and “carrying out acts of hatred”, while the six religious and a layman who accompanied him during the kidnapping were imprisoned in the Directorate of Judicial Assistance (DAJ), El Chipote.
The response of the Catholic hierarchy to such an act was restrained: “we hope that reason, as well as respectful understanding, will open a solution to this critical and complex situation for everyone,” they said in a statement issued by the Archdiocese of Managua. The CEN assured that they felt “profound pain” for the “wound that we suffer as a Church in Nicaragua” when referring to the situation of Bishop Álvarez. It has been 62 days since that pronouncement.
The Church has taken a position of “extreme prudence”, says the priest “José”. She directs the priests to pray, and “we are doing it”, but it is necessary that it be manifested “Because there are many injustices, a lot of pain that is being done. The priests, you no longer know if you want to go for a walk around the block, because you feel harassed, persecuted (…)”, questioned.
On September 15, Pope Francis assured that they maintain a dialogue with the Ortega government. “There is dialogue, there has been talk with the government. There is dialogue, but this does not mean that everything the government does is approved or disapproved”, he said. However, a month after that statement, the situation of the priests has only worsened with ongoing legal proceedings and new arrests.
Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes is the only one who has seen Monsignor Álvarez, and he assured the media that he is fine, without going into details about the illegal situation to which he is subjected.
-What have they told you about Bishop Rolando Álvarez? – the priests were asked.
“What you know is what we know”, assured Father “Carlos”, while recalling that a meeting shared information that the bishop was fine, smiling and chatting. That generated a reaction of fear among the parents; “We can be bloody and we are fine for our authorities,” claimed the religious.
“Only what came out in the media -of communication-” affirmed father “José”, and clarified that it was not a “transfer”, but a kidnapping.
Unstoppable persecution against the Catholic Church
“We see that the government’s position is firm against the Church,” underlines the priest “José”, who from exile sees with concern these endless attacks without knowing when they will stop.
“They invent anything for us in order to attack and silence us, to intimidate us, to scare us, so that later we say nothing more, and they can do all the injustices they want, all the violations they want, and of course there is no longer a voice that denounces”, he emphasizes.
The persecution against the Church has also been evidenced by immigration restrictions. In the last four months, at least five priests have not been able to enter Nicaragua without a justification greater than that their entry has not been authorized. For Father “José” the situation in the country has led the people to shout the same words of Christ being on the cross: “My father, why have you abandoned me? We are already experiencing this situation. We go to the father. Sometimes you feel like that.”
“I have always trusted in prayer, I trust in my Church, but I don’t know. We are living in a situation that has to take a position”, exhorted the priest, who has been a direct victim of the repression.
