SAN JOSE (EFE).— The Nicaraguan government announced yesterday that it has sent to the Vatican a group of Nicaraguan priests who, according to Catholic sources, were detained and under police surveillance at the Interdiocesan Seminary of Our Lady of Fatima in Managua.
“Yesterday, Wednesday, August 7, seven Nicaraguan priests left Nicaragua for Rome, Italy. They have arrived safely and have been received by the Holy See,” the Nicaraguan government said in a statement read through official media by Vice President Rosario Murillo, in which she did not offer further details.
The priests expelled from Nicaragua had been detained between July 26 and August 5, said exiled Nicaraguan lawyer and researcher Martha Patricia Molina, author of the study ‘Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church?’ and who follows these cases, in X.
According to the researcher, the Nicaraguan police removed “seven of the eight priests who were kidnapped” from the Interdiocesan Seminary of Our Lady of Fatima, where the religious were being held, and transferred them to the international airport in Managua.
The Nicaraguan priests sent to the Vatican were identified as Edgar Sacasa, Ulises Vega, Marlon Velázquez, Víctor Godoy, Harvin Torres, Jairo Pravia and Silvio Romero, most of whom belong to the Diocese of Matagalpa (north).
The Diocese of Matagalpa is led from exile by Bishop Rolando Álvarez, who was released from prison and sent to Rome in January.
The only priest still in custody is Frutos Constatino Valle Salmerón, 79, ad omnia administrator of the Diocese of Estelí, in northern Nicaragua, also administered by Álvarez.
Government has expelled 46 priests from Nicaragua
Nicaraguan Government
In total, Daniel Ortega’s government has already expelled 46 priests from Nicaragua.
Identified
The Nicaraguan priests sent to the Vatican last Wednesday were identified as Edgar Sacasa, Ulises Vega, Marlon Velázquez, Víctor Godoy, Harvin Torres, Jairo Pravia and Silvio Romero.
Matagalpa
Most of them belong to the Diocese of Matagalpa (north).
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2024-08-18 23:25:45
