Nicaragua: new priests ordained as UN appeals for missing religious

Vatican News

The archdiocese of Managua has ordained nine new priests. Many faithful participated in the rite in Managua Cathedral on Saturady 6 January, on the Solemnity of the Epiphany, presided over by Cardinal Archbishop Leopoldo José Brenes Solórzano. 

Priests, witnesses of fraternity

In his homily, the cardinal thanked God for the "wonderful gift" of the new priests, stating that priesthood "is not a power", but "a mission and a service". Priests, he stressed, are "servants" and "witnesses", called to "live communion and fraternity".

Wave of arrests

The new priests were ordained at a difficult time for the Church in Nicaragua. Since 20 December, at least 14 priests, two seminarians and the Bishop of Siuna, Isidoro del Carmen Mora Ortega, have been arrested. Bishop Mora was kidnapped after praying for Bishop Rolando José Álvarez Lagos, Bishop of Matagalpa and Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Estelí, who has been in prison since last February, after having been sentenced to 26 years, without a proper trial. 

Concern for sick priests

Concern is high in the Church community, in particular, for the kidnapped priests who have health problems, including Fr Ismael Serrano, parish priest of Saint Michael the Archangel, and Fr Gerardo Rodrígues, priest of the Church of the Most Holy Conception, both from the archdiocese of Managua. Both are ill and in need of medical care.

UN appeal to the Nicaraguan government

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for Central America (OACNUDH) has launched a new appeal to the Nicaraguan government to urgently disclose where Bishop Mora, "a victim of enforced disappearance for 16 days", is being held. "Hiding this information", reads a post on X, "puts his life at risk".

The OACNUDH had previously, on 28 December, condemned "the enforced disappearance of Bishop Isidoro Mora" and "the new wave of arrests of religious" in violation of the "right to religious freedom, the pillar of every democratic State". According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nicaragua is moving "ever further" away from the rule of law and "fundamental freedoms" by persecuting "political and indigenous leaders, members of the Catholic Church, activists and journalists" with "repeated cases of arbitrary detention".

Pope Francis' prayer

Pope Francis prayed for Nicaragua during his Angelus on 1 January:

I have been following with deep concern what is happening in Nicaragua, where Bishops and priests have been deprived of their freedom. I express to them, to their families and to the entire Church in the country my closeness in prayer. I also invite all of you present here, and all the People of God, to pray insistently; meanwhile I hope that we will always seek the path of dialogue to overcome difficulties. Let us pray for Nicaragua today.

So far, the Nicaraguan authorities have neither confirmed nor denied the detention of the clergymen reported missing.