Police in Nicaragua have arrested and allegedly beaten a Catholic bishop after he prayed in public for a brother bishop sentenced to life in jail earlier this year.
Bishop Isidoro del Carmen Mora Ortega of Siuna was snatched this week by police after he celebrated a Mass in Matagalpa and requested prayers for Bishop Rolando Álvarez, the imprisoned ordinary of the Matagalpa diocese.
His intervention came amid grave concerns over the failing health of Bishop Álvarez, who in February was sentenced to 26 years in prison for refusing to go into exile in the United States with 222 political prisoners.
According to local news sources, Bishop Mora Ortega was arrested in the parish of Santa Cruz, in the municipality of Rio Grande, while travelling to administer the sacrament of confirmation to 230 Catholics. Two seminarians were also detained.
The day before, according to ACI Prensa, the bishop presided over a Mass for the 99th anniversary of the creation of the Diocese of Matagalpa and dared to offer prayes for Bishop Álvarez.
“I would like to express the greetings of the bishops’ conference of Nicaragua,” he told the congregation in the Cathedral of St Peter.
“We are always united by this wonderful Diocese of Matagalpa, praying for Monsignor Rolando and for the journey of each of you, we are united in prayer, communion, faith, love and tenderness,” he said.
According to unconfirmed reports Bishop Mora Ortega, 63, who was served as a bishop for only two years, was beaten after his arrest. His precise whereabouts are unknown.
It was also reported that the Nicaraguan authorities have also arrested about a dozen Evangelicals as it continues its crackdown all political opposition.
The Catholic Church has been a consistent target hard-left President Daniel Ortega, who in October exiled 12 priests to Rome following a deal with the Vatican.
His regime has aggressively opposed the Catholic Church in recent years because of its sympathy for the mass protests against his administration in April 2018, which he has described as an attempted coup.
The President accused the Church of supporting the protests and waged a campaign against the clergy along with political dissidents and opponents and the free Press.
Earlier this year, it was reported that since 2018 the Nicaraguan regime has launched more than 500 attacks against the Catholic Church.
Martha Patricia Molina, a lawyer, said in a report called “Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church?” that there were at least 529 attacks perpetrated by the dictatorship in the last five years with more than 90 committed in the first four months of 2023.
In September, the United Nations-appointed Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua said the situation had worsened further, citing the erosion of academic freedom and the recent closure of Catholic universities.
Among the property and assets seized by the government was the Jesuit-run Central American University, which was taken over by the state in August on the grounds that it was functioning as a “centre of terrorism”.
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.