An operation by the Nicaraguan Police on Sunday intensified the pressure on two Nicaraguan priests, known for their criticism of the government of Daniel Ortega. Police agents surrounded both temples and prevented the parishioners from approaching.
the catholic bishop Rolando Álvarez, who began an indefinite hunger strike since Friday as a protest after days of persecution by the National Police, he said on his social networks that the parishioners could not attend Sunday mass due to the presence of security agents.
“The Police does not allow the entrance (of parishioners) and has completely cordoned off the temple. Two priests who were going to concelebrate the word were rejected with rudeness and rudeness,” Álvarez wrote on social networks. “That kind of attitude doesn’t pay for dialogue at all.”
Álvarez remains inside a church in Managua after denouncing that police officers were persecuting him, including in his home.
The priest Harving Padilla, who directs a local church in the city of Masaya, located southeast of the capital, was also unable to celebrate mass because the police closed the streets leading to the temple.
Padilla finds himself maintaining that he has been under police siege for a week, which is why he had not left the temple. This Sunday the priest told the media 100%News that the police tried to stop him in the morning when he was trying to leave the place.
“I wanted to hand over the altar boy who had stayed here (in the church) since yesterday (Saturday). So I was going to deliver it through the garage door and at that moment a van with riot police came and one of them asked me what I was going to do, where was I going for, ”said the priest.
The Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua issued a statement on Sunday to express its “solidarity” with the priest Rolando Álvarez.
“We are experiencing difficult times as a nation and our duty as a Church is to announce the truth of the Gospel,” the Conference said.
On Friday afternoon, the Nicaraguan government also prohibited cable companies from transmitting Canal Católico and demanded that it be removed from the programming grid.
Central American priests show solidarity
The Episcopal Conference of Costa Rica and that of Panama issued statements in which they expressed solidarity with the Nicaraguan priests.
The Costa Rican Episcopal Conference affirmed that it is following the case and has information about the safety of the priest Rolando Álvarez, as well as other Nicaraguan bishops.
The Panama Conference also expressed its solidarity with priests “at a time when persecution is being experienced for being a prophet in the face of the difficult situation due to the Nicaraguan crisis.”
“We join in prayer for the persecution of Monsignor Rolando Álvarez and Father Harvy Padilla to cease, who has also been limited to living and celebrating the faith in an atmosphere of peace,” the bishops of Panama underlined.
“They persecute us for not kneeling before the oppressor”
The priests in Nicaragua have been targeted of President Ortega since 2018, when the demonstrations against him took place. Ortega accuses them of having been part of an alleged coup attempt to overthrow him.
The priests assure that they are on the side of justice and of the Nicaraguan population that lives under the repression of the government.
“In Nicaragua the Catholic Church is persecuted, and especially when the Bishop or a priest raises his prophetic voice denouncing corruption, and the injustice we suffer,” he tells the VOA the priest Edwin Roman, who is exiled in the United States due to threats against him.
“They persecute us for being faithful to our priestly ministry, for not kneeling before the oppressor and for standing up for God’s people,” Román added by telephone.
Former liberal deputy Eliseo Núñez, exiled in Costa Rica, maintains that Ortega, with this new escalation against the Church, seeks to silence any critical voice, including religious ones.
“Ortega is seeking at this point and to silence even the homilies (…) he intends to strike this blow. Perhaps he does not want to imprison them (the priests), but to exile them. He wants to lower the morale of the Church and leave it without the capacity for a prophetic voice, ”Núñez told the VOA.
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