Nicaraguan authorities have detained two senior Catholic priests, escalating tensions between the state and the Catholic Church. The priests, identified as Carlos Aviles and Hector Treminio, are closely associated with the country’s top Catholic leader.
Their arrest brings the total number of clergymen detained last week to at least six, Reuters reported Saturday.
Aviles, serving as the second-highest ranking cleric in the Archdiocese of Managua, and Treminio, the treasurer, were reportedly detained for publicly praying for jailed Bishop Rolando Alvarez, according to the newswire.
Alvarez, a vocal critic of President Daniel Ortega, was sentenced earlier this year to a 26-year prison term on charges of treason. He had condemned the government’s response to mass protests in 2018.
Over the past few years, Ortega’s administration has increasingly targeted members of the Catholic Church, citing reasons such as treasonous behavior or other alleged crimes.
Nicaraguan Bishop Silvio Baez, who is in exile in Florida, has called for the immediate release of the detained priests.
Martha Patricia Molina, an exiled Nicaraguan researcher, reports that the number of bishops, priests and seminarians imprisoned in Nicaragua now stands at nine.
The arrest of Aviles and Treminio, following their prayers for Bishop Álvarez, indicates a pattern of arrests targeting those who publicly support the jailed bishop.
This pattern was further evidenced by the Dec. 20 arrest of Bishop Isidoro del Carmen Mora Ortega of the Diocese of Siuna, along with two seminarians, Alester Sáenz and Tony Palacio, according to Vatican News. Bishop Mora’s arrest, like those of Aviles and Treminio, was linked to his public prayers for Bishop Alvarez during a homily.
An ideology in Nicaragua portrays President Ortega as being “anointed by God … for sacred Nicaragua.”
A trend of persecution started in Nicaragua after protests against reforms to the public pension system in April 2018. The protests came after about a decade of deteriorating economic conditions in the country. Protesters, mostly students, demanded democratic reforms and that Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, step down as they established a dictatorship marked by nepotism and repression.
During the initial days of the 2018 protests, Ortega requested that the Catholic Church act as a mediator. But his administration also began using brutal force against protesters and later on, Catholic clergy.
Catholic clergy aided and provided sanctuary to protesters and voiced support for the right to protest peacefully. But as a result, Ortega used his government and supporters to persecute clergy, worshipers and various Catholic organizations.
Hundreds of people died in the protests in 2018.
Originally published by The Christian Post
