- Following 16 days of stalemate, Nicaraguan police detain a bishop and seven other priests and seminarians.
- The arrests follow an inquiry into “destabilizing and provocative” acts.
- The OAS and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights call for the release of the prisoners.
Nicaragua: Following a 16-day stalemate, Nicaraguan police detained a bishop along with seven other priests and seminarians on Friday, escalating hostilities between the country’s government and the Catholic Church.
According to a statement released by the authorities and shared on social media, police invaded the Matagalpa diocese’s administrative centre and detained Bishop Rolando Lvarez and the others.
The announcement gave no explanation for the arrests but stated that they were connected to an inquiry into “destabilizing and provocative” acts taking place in the nation that was started on August 5. A later police statement indicated that all had been transferred to capital city Managua for “legal inquiries.”
A few hours later, in a speech, Nicaragua’s vice president Rosario Murillo asserted that the bishop’s detention was “necessary” because the police had been restoring calm in Matagalpa. In the meantime, the OAS and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights denounced the arrests and requested the “prompt freedom” of the prisoners.
Since the country’s large-scale anti-government protests in 2018, when protesters and their families frequently sought shelter from attacks by pro-government forces in the nation’s churches and cathedrals, Nicaragua’s authoritarian government, headed by President Daniel Ortega and Murillo, his wife, has tightened its grip on the nation.
At the time, bishops of the Episcopal Conference took part in national conversation as mediators, bringing together various socioeconomic groups with the government in an effort to find a peaceful resolution to the political dispute.
The 76-year-old Ortega announced his candidacy for president in November. His government started locking up opposition presidential candidates, opposition leaders, journalists, human rights activists, and others in the run-up to the election by claiming a wide national security law as reason. Since that year, the country currently has “practically no independent media,” according to press advocacy group Reporters without Borders.
As of mid-June, more than 190 non-governmental groups had been shut down as a result of another rule that labels any organisation receiving foreign funds as a “foreign agent.”
After Alvarez voiced his opposition to the local Catholic radio stations being shut down, police started looking into the diocese. He promoted prayer and conversation throughout the nation both in his homilies and on social media, and he said he had no idea why he was under investigation.
Bishop Lvarez is currently under house arrest in Managua, according to the police statement, while the other religious leaders have been transported to the directorate of judicial assistance for the city.
The Managua Archbishop Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes was able to visit lvarez, according to the police, and “they talked extensively.”
CNN’s request for comment from the Archdiocese of Managua was not met with a response.
The Holy See has already expressed worry over the state of the country in Central America. The Vatican Permanent Observer, Msgr. Juan Antonio Cruz Serrano, addressed the OAS Special session on the situation in Nicaragua on August 11 and urged all parties involved in the country to “develop means of understanding, based on respect and mutual trust, seeking above all the common good and peace.”
[embedpost slug=”/catholic-bishops-urge-world-to-bring-peace-to-dr-congo/”]
