Father Floriano Ceferino Vargas, parish priest of the San Martin de Porres Church in Nueva Guinea, Diocese of Bluefields, was arrested this Sunday, December 1, by the National Police after celebrating a mass in the afternoon, as reported by the peasant leader Medardo Mairena.
«We received information that the Sandinista police kidnapped Father Floriano Ceferino Vargas yesterday around 2:00 pm after celebrating the Holy Eucharist. (…) The father is missing, there is no information about his whereabouts. Both the Nicaraguan Catholic clergy and his parishioners are extremely concerned about him. We demand respect for their physical integrity,” Mairena published on her X account.
The information was confirmed by lawyer Martha Patricia Molina, who also denounces that the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo has confiscated properties of the Catholic Church in this area of the Caribbean.
«The kidnapping of the priest only shows once again that as long as the criminal Ortega-Murillo dictatorship continues in power, they will continue to persecute the Catholic Church. The Caribbean area is too affected and is going deeper for communication reasons,” Molina told Article66.
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The Sandinista dictatorship does not officially report the arrests of religious people, so the whereabouts of the parish priest are unknown.
Priests exiled by Ortega continue to serve the Church abroad
The Ortega regime maintains persecution against the Catholic Church in Nicaragua for being critical of government repression and violating the Human Rights of Nicaraguans. So far, more than 870 attacks on priests and lay people have been recorded, in addition to the closure of 1,500 religious organizations.
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According to data collected by lawyer Molina, since 2018, 154 priests and 91 nuns have left Nicaragua, among them due to exile (65), expelled (9), prevented from returning to Nicaragua after leaving (34) and due to banishment (48). .
Among these priests are Monsignor Miguel Mántica, who was expelled from the country in January of this year and named the new parish priest of the Patriarca San José church, Aguas Zarcas, in the diocese of Ciudad Quesada, in Costa Rica, where he is exiled.
«Father Miguel is responsible for making Christ the King present; witness his words and attitudes, be an image of the Good Shepherd, his meekness and humility. The mission of the parish priest is to give his life, teach, sanctify and shepherd. “We entrust the ministry of Father Miguel to the Lord, may he be very happy and fruitful in this community!”, the bishop of Ciudad Quesada, José Manuel Garita, published on Facebook.
Another father who fulfills his priestly mission is Erick Díaz who was appointed vicar of the Virgen del Mayor Dolor parish in Seville Spain. Following his exile in 2022, Díaz was stripped of his nationality by the Sandinista regime. The Matagalpino parish priest also served at the Santa María del Lago and Nuestra Señora de Lourdes Parish in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
