They were the few remaining voices of opposition in Nicaragua. On Sunday, January 14, Daniel Ortega's government banned and expelled 19 clerics critical of the regime to Rome. They include Bishop Rolando Alvarez, bishop of Matagalpa, arrested on August 19, 2022, who spent 514 days in detention; Bishop Isodoro Mora, bishop of the diocese of Siuna, arrested on December 20, 2023; and 17 other religious figures, most arrested on December 29 and 30.

"Daniel Ortega's criminal Sandinista dictatorship was no match for God's power," another Nicaraguan bishop, Monsignor Silvio Baez, forced into exile in 2019, announced on Sunday during his homily from Miami. He had just received confirmation that the clergy had arrived in Rome. "I want to invite you all to thank Pope Francis (...) for the effectiveness of Vatican diplomacy," he said during the service to the moved and applauding faithful, before bursting into tears himself.

In a press release, the government stated that the decision had been made thanks to the "very respectful and discreet" negotiations carried out by the Holy See to "make it possible for two bishops, 15 priests and two seminarians to travel to the Vatican." Earlier this year, the pope reiterated his concern about the situation in Nicaragua and called on the government to engage in "respectful diplomatic dialogue."

On February 9, 2023, Bishop Alvarez refused to board a plane with 222 other opponents freed by the regime but stripped of their nationality and sent to the United States. The following day, he was sentenced to 26 years in prison. In July, negotiations were held with the Vatican to expel the bishop, but once again, he refused to be banished. On October 18, he was not among the 12 priests expelled to Rome following an "agreement" reached between the Holy See and Managua.

The regime of President Ortega and his wife and vice president, Rosario Murillo, has targeted the bishops ever since they called for early elections after the 2018 revolt, which ended in bloodshed (355 dead). The government saw this as an "attempted coup d'état." In 2022, it expelled the Vatican's representative, Nuncio Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag.

According to lawyer Martha Molina, 203 priests and religious figures have been expelled, banned or prohibited from entering Nicaragua since 2018. "The year 2023 was the worst: 307 assaults, more than 3,600 banned processions (...), kidnappings, harassment, permanent surveillance," the researcher told the online media outlet Confidencial.

You have 15% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.