The dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo continues to rage against the Nicaraguan Catholic Church. This time they have unleashed a new escalation of repression with the use of force against religious leaders who pastor parishes in the Dioceses of Estelí and Matagalpa, which continue to be led by Bishop Rolando Álvarez, a former prisoner of conscience in exile since January 14, 2024.
According to citizen reports, between July 27 and August 2, the regime ordered the kidnapping of 11 priests and one deacon, ten of them destined for Matagalpa.
This is the list of religious people arbitrarily deprived of their freedom by the Police under the instructions of the Ortega-Murillos:
1- Monsignor Ulises René Vega Matamoros (Matagalpa)
Father Vega Matamoros is the judicial vicar and head of family ministry for the Diocese of Matagalpa. He also serves as parish priest of the San Ramón church. He was kidnapped on August 1.
2- Monsignor Edgar Sacasa (Matagalpa)
The priest Edgar Sacasa is the pastoral vicar of the Diocese of Matagalpa and the priest of the San Isidro parish. He was also arrested by the Sandinista Police on August 1.
3- Father Antonio Lopez (Matagalpa)
López is the parish priest of the Our Lord of Veracruz church in Darío, Matagalpa. He was arrested on August 2.
4- Father Ramon Morras (Matagalpa)
Friar of the Immaculate Conception of Mary Parish in Sébaco, Matagalpa.
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5- Father Marlon Velasquez (Matagalpa)
He was rector of the Catholic University John Paul II. He holds a doctorate in Theological Anthropology from the Pontifical Gregorian University with a thesis on the dignity of the indigenous people. He was arbitrarily arrested by the regime on August 2.
6- Father Jairo Pravia (Matagalpa)
Pravia has been the parish priest of the Immaculate Conception Church in Sébaco for 19 years. He was violently arrested on August 2, according to complaints on social media.
7- Father Victor Godoy (Matagalpa)
Godoy works as a parish vicar at the Immaculate Conception Church in Sébaco. He was arrested along with Father Pravia after spending hours being harassed by police outside the parish, according to complaints from parishioners.
8- Father Raul Francisco Villegas (Matagalpa)
The priest of Mexican origin is in charge of a parish in Matiguás, Matagalpa. He is part of the group of priests arrested on August 2.
9- Father Salvador Lopez (Matagalpa)
Lopez has been the parish priest of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Las Calabazas, Ciudad Darío, for two years. He was also arrested on August 2.
10- Brother Silvio José Romero (Juigalpa)
In 2018, Romero said during a homily at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Managua that “the Church cannot and should not be neutral, but must always be at the side of the crucified one.” The friar belongs to the Diocese of Chontales.
eleven- Father Fruits Valley Salmeron (Esteli)
Among the detained priests is Father Frutos Valle Salmerón, 79 years old, whom the Vatican named “executor ad omnia” of the Diocese of Estelí, of which Monsignor Rolando Álvarez (now in exile) was apostolic administrator. Unofficially, it is known that he was transferred to the Interdiocesan Seminary of Fátima in Managua, where he is under “house arrest.”
12- Deacon Ervin Aguirre (Matagalpa)
Aguirre was named deacon last July in the community of San Pablo, part of the Diocese of the Media Parroquia Nuestra Señora de Lourdes de La Dalia, Matagalpa.
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To date, the Sandinista regime has not made any statements regarding the legal situation of these religious leaders, nor has it revealed the reason for the mass arrests of Catholic leaders.
Most of the arrests are of clerics who were under the direction of the dioceses led by the expelled bishop Rolando Álvarez, who was sent to Rome in early 2024. Last October, 12 priests were exiled to the Vatican following an agreement with the Holy See.
The United Nations Group of Experts on Human Rights on Nicaragua has published a report stating that Nicaraguan priests who have been imprisoned in recent years have suffered physical harassment, “forced nudity,” torture and other cruel treatment, which it believes constitutes crimes against humanity.
