Clergy of Matagalpa and Estelí in distress in the face of new dragnet of the dictatorship
In La Prensa, August 2, 2024
One day after the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo ordered the abduction of the priests of the Diocese of Matagalpa, Ulises René Vega Matamoros, the pastor of the Church of San Ramón, and Mons. Edgard Sacasa, pastor of the Church of San Isidro, the clergy of this jurisdiction and of Estelí – which were administered by Mons. Rolando José Álvarez – are experiencing moments of “anxiety”.
The lawyer and author of the report, Nicaragua A Persecuted Church?, Martha Patricia Molina, confirmed for La Prensa that the Immaculate Conception of Mary Parish in Sébaco remains surrounded by officers of the Special Operations Police Office f (DOEP) known as the anti-riot police.
“I received information that the Police were carrying out an operation looking for priests and have arrested and interviewed laypeople who cooperate with the Church in the northern part of the country,” stated Molina.
Holy Mass celebrated without songs
Concerning the Immaculate Conception of Mary Parish in Sébaco, Molina mentioned that “at this time that parish is under siege and people are fearing the worst.”
This newspaper corroborated that this Friday the holy mass was transmitted, celebrated by Fr. Jairo Pravia, but it seems that few of the faithful attended due to the police harassment. The Catholic rite did not have the customary songs, in comparison with the mass celebrated on Thursday.
In the face of the persecution of Ortega, the researcher denounced that “the faithful are afraid that they will abduct their pastors”.
In one week, the dictatorship has arrested at least three priests, including two vicars and the priest Frutos Constantino Valle Salmerón, nearly 80 years-old, the Ad Omnia (for everything) administrator of the Diocese of Estelí, detained this past July 26th.
It was known that Fr. Valle Salmerón was taken out of Estelí in the hours of the night by the Ortega Police, who moved him to the Interdiocesan Seminary of our Lady of Fatima, located in Managua.
Molina stated that she also received information that a priest of the Diocese of Estelí had to flee to prevent being arrested.
“They informed me in addition about a priest from the Diocese of Estelí who the Police came looking for, but he fled. They are experiencing a really alarming time in that area,” Molina denounced.
More than 23% of the clergy expelled
More than 140 priests, including a papal nuncio and three bishops, monsignors and humble parish priests have been forced to flee the country since April 2018, when the citizen rebellion erupted which the dictatorship put down in a bloody manner.
A counting done by La Prensa projects that in Nicaragua there are at least 611 priests. The 143 who are outside the country represent approximately 23% of all the clergy in the ecclesiastical province of Nicaragua, composed of one archdiocese and eight dioceses.
Matagalpa and Estelí have been the diocese most hit by the regime, who kept their representative, Mons. Rolando Álvarez, imprisoned, stripping him of his nationality.