Nicaraguan Auxiliary Bishop, Silvio José Báez, who is currently in exile in Miami, asked all the bishops and the world bishop’s conferences,

“not to abandon us at this time; may they pray for the church of Nicaragua, stand in solidarity, and raise their voices to denounce this persecution by the dictatorship against our Church!”

He pleas after the Catholic Church in Nicaragua has seen many priests detained in the past few days.

The first ones arrested were Bishop Isidoro Mora of the Diocese of Siuna and two seminarians on December 20. Bishop Mora’s whereabouts are still unknown.

Most of the priests were detained between December 28 and December 30. The majority of them are from the Archdiocese of Managua. The latest arrest occurred on December 31. The detained priest is Father Gustavo Sandino, pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Santa María de Pastasma, in the Diocese of Jinotega. He was arrested after celebrating Mass that day.

Several priests among the detained were taken by the police force from their parish residences. The whereabouts of most of the arrested priests are unknown.

This wave of arrests seems to be part of a plan of the Sandinist government and President Daniel Ortega to weaken the Catholic Church’s influence and control what is spoken from the pulpit.

Pope Francis also expressed concerns about the situation in Nicaragua. On January 1, as he prayed the Angelus, he asked the faithful to pray for Nicaragua.

Source: UCAnews