In its continuing frontal attack against the Catholic Church, Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo’s regime has now barred Miskito priest Rodolfo Napoleón French Naar, from the Diocese of Siuna, from entering his native Nicaragua, confirmed Martha Patricia Molina to LA PRENSA.
Molina, author of the report Nicaragua: Is the Church Being Persecuted?, told La Prensa that she has information that the Miskito priest was on a mission in the U.S. and “according to what I was informed, he was not allowed to board the plane.”
The researcher detailed that the information was corroborated to her by workers from the Ortega regime. “Nicaragua’s Immigration authorities told them to notify the airline that he could not board,” Molina added.
The priest was set to return to Nicaragua on July 2. In 2020, Father French was one of eight Miskito priests in Nicaragua. “The father was under surveillance and besieged,” Molina denounced.
Who is Father Rodolfo Napoleón French Naar?
On December 28, 1995, Father French was ordained a priest at the San Pedro Apóstol Parish in Puerto Cabezas by Monsignor Pablo Schmitz, who was then the Bishop of the Apostolic Vicariate of Bluefields. French has studied Philosophy, Theology, and Canon Law.
In an interview with Revista Domingo in November 2020, Father French spoke about his work and the responsibility he felt to help communities devastated by hurricanes. He also mentioned that if he were to be born again, he would again choose to be a priest.
Father French is in charge of the San Rafael Arcángel Church in Waspam, Autonomous Region of the North Caribbean Coast (RACCN).
According to the Catholic radio station La Voz de San Rafael, in May of this year, Father French carried out several missions in different communities.
More Priests Forced into Exile
According to Molina, the fact that he was barred from returning to the country “is another abuse that adds to the crimes against humanity that the dictatorship continues to commit against the Catholic Church, despite the silence imposed on bishops and priests.”
Molina also mentioned that “the number of religious men and women in exile has increased. Recently, I met with some of them to consolidate the lists of priests in exile and was able to update information on more than 12 priests that I did not know had fled the country to save their lives or that the dictatorship had forbidden from entering.”
The forced exile now faced by Father French, Molina explains, deeply affects the “communities of the parish that are impacted by what has happened to Father French because he was very dedicated to his ministry. They will suffer greatly.”
Molina, one of seven people in the world to receive the 2024 International Religious Freedom Award from the International Religious Freedom Office of the U.S. Department of State, announced that on July 11, she will present at a hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) where she will denounce the abuses of the dictatorship.
“I will appear at a hearing before the IACHR representing the Ecumenical Group of Nicaragua, where I will publicly denounce all the abuses committed by the dictatorship. On that day, I will also present updated figures from the Fifth Edition of my study Nicaragua: Is the Church Being Persecuted? which I will also be publishing soon,” she stated.
