Nicaragua: Police Arrest Another Bishop

On Wednesday, December 20, 2023, Nicaraguan police arrested the Bishop of Siuna, Isidoro del Carmen Mora Ortega. He is now the second bishop detained in the country, after Msgr. Rolando José Alvarez Lagos, Bishop of Matagalpa, sentenced to 26 years in prison for conspiracy, dissemination of false news, obstruction of justice, and contempt of authorities.

Bishop Alvarez has been in prison since February, after having being under house arrest since August 2022.

According to some sources, Bishop Mora was arrested by the police and paramilitaries “when he was heading to celebrate confirmations in the parish of La Cruz de Rio Grande.” “Two seminarians, Alester Sáenz and Tony Palacio were also arrested.” The whereabouts of the three men are currently unknown.

Arrested After Praying for Bishop Alvarez

The homily delivered on December 20 by Bishop Mora in the St. Peter the Apostle cathedral was the reason for his arrest. This is what the country's independent press reported, citing ecclesiastical sources.

On this occasion, the bishop indicated that the Nicaraguan Episcopal Conference continued to pray for Bishop Alvarez. “We are always united in prayer for the beloved diocese of Matagalpa,” Archbishop Mora said, “praying for Archbishop Rolando and for each of you.”

According to the United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nada Al-Nashif, Nicaragua is “moving further and further away” from the rule of law and in particular “from fundamental freedoms, aggravating the suffering of the population, fueling the exodus of young people, and compromising the future of democratic institutions.”

She denounced the fact that the authorities in Managua continue to “persecute those who can bring an alternative vision into the public sphere, such as political and indigenous leaders, members of the Catholic Church, activists and journalists.”

In this context, she emphasized that “the restrictions on civic space continue, with repeated cases of arbitrary detention against those who exercise their fundamental freedoms.”