Since Pope Pius X founded the Ecclesiastical Province of Nicaragua 111 years ago, the Nicaraguan Catholic Church had never suffered the persecution and attacks it has endured in the last six years. Specifically, 2024 will go down in history as the year when three bishops were imprisoned and exiled.
LA PRENSA selected Bishops Monsignor Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa, Monsignor Isidoro Mora of Siuna, and Monsignor Carlos Herrera of the Diocese of Jinotega and President of the Nicaraguan Episcopal Conference (CEN) as Persons of the Year 2024. The three were exiled by the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo during 2024.
This newspaper attempted to speak with the exiled bishops, but it was not possible because all the exiled clergy received instructions from the Vatican not to make statements to the media.
Since 2018, the Catholic Church has suffered harassment and repression throughout the entire country. This siege has affected more than 160 priests who were forced to leave the country, as well as various religious congregations, committed laypeople who served as ministers of the Eucharist and the Word, in addition to small parishes left without priests, and remote rural communities that were served by the Church’s social works and lost that support.
Persecution is not just for Catholics
They also confiscated schools, media outlets, and nonprofit organizations, with one of the most internationally notable acts being the confiscation of the Universidad Centroamericana (UCA), run by the Society of Jesus.
Other Christian denominations have also faced repression. For example, in December 2023, the Ortega Murillo regime arrested eleven pastors from the evangelical church Puerta de la Montaña and exiled them in September of this year. Likewise, in 2022, they seized the Universidad Politécnica (Upoli) from the Baptist Church.
“The faith of the Nicaraguans is unbreakable”
Monsignor José Antonio Canales Motiño, Bishop of the Diocese of Danlí in Honduras, both due to spiritual and geographical proximity, has closely followed the religious persecution in Nicaragua and did not hesitate to describe this year as the most difficult of all. Despite this, he is firm in stating that the faith of the Nicaraguans is unbreakable.
“The Church will not disappear. They may come to confiscate, they may come to intimidate, they may come to threaten, but they cannot enter the hearts of the Nicaraguan Catholics. The hearts of the Catholics remain alive. When Nicaraguan Catholics are prohibited from religious acts, they pray in their homes, just like the early Church, which was also persecuted. That Church was not as numerous as it is now; however, it still found ways, clandestinely, to celebrate the Word of God,” said the Honduran bishop and general secretary of the bishops of Central America to LA PRENSA.
This is how they were banished
In August 2022, the Episcopal Curia of the city of Matagalpa became a sort of “spiritual fortress.” Behind its walls, the Bishop of Matagalpa, Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, was gathered with other priests and laypeople, praying and praising the Blessed Sacrament.
Outside, the Ortega police kept them from leaving and were merely waiting for the order to break down the doors and arrest them. The order was given on August 19. Monsignor Rolando José Álvarez Lagos, then 55 years old, was imprisoned.
On February 9, 2023, Nicaragua woke up to worldwide news. The dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo had exiled 222 political prisoners to the United States.
Amid the reports, videos, the list of names, and photos, the media and the population realized that Monsignor Álvarez was not among those exiled.
It was later revealed that the bishop had refused to be exiled. In retaliation, the dictatorship, in an expedited trial with no guarantees, sentenced him to 26 years in prison for “treason against the homeland.”
Monsignor Isidoro Mora was imprisoned for praying
From his distant diocese in Siuna, in the northern Caribbean Coast, Monsignor Isidoro Mora, 63, was not unaware of what was happening. He kept a prudent silence, but as the months passed, Monsignor Álvarez remained in prison.
In December 2023, he could no longer stay silent, and during a Mass in Matagalpa, he dared to pray for the bishop of that diocese. “We are here praying for the Diocese of Matagalpa, praying for Monsignor Rolando, praying for the journey,” he said before the congregation.
On December 21, after confirming 230 children in the faith at the La Cruz de Río Grande parish, Ortega’s police agents kidnapped Monsignor Isidoro Mora. The exile of Bishops Mora and Álvarez, along with fifteen priests and seminarians who were illegally imprisoned at the time, took place on January 13, 2024.
The provocation of Bishop Herrera
Monsignor Carlos Herrera had sent as many as ten letters to the mayor of Jinotega, Leónidas Centeno, kindly asking him not to interrupt Masses at the city’s cathedral by playing loud music through loudspeakers placed in front of the temple. The letters never received a response.
On November 10, during a Eucharist, Monsignor Herrera said at the end of his homily that the interruption of the Mass with music was a sacrilege.
On November 13, after participating in a meeting of the CEN, of which he is president, Monsignor Carlos Herrera was violently approached by members of the Ortega police and kidnapped. At the District III Police delegation, he was met by Francisco Díaz, the first commissioner of the police and the son-in-law of dictator Daniel Ortega.
A source told LA PRENSA that Díaz claimed Herrera had committed the crime of treason against the homeland by “turning the population against the government through his homilies,” and that such a crime “is punished with exile,” which was the punishment for those who were part of the “Catholic mafia.” That same day, the 76-year-old bishop was exiled to Guatemala.
Monsignor Báez, auxiliary bishop of Managua, had to leave in 2019
In this way, in one year, three dioceses in the country were left without their pastors. The three exiled bishops were preceded in 2019 by Monsignor Silvio Báez, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Managua, who in April of that year announced his departure from Nicaragua at the request of Pope Francis. Both the Holy See and U.S. embassy intelligence had information about a plot to assassinate him.
“I give thanks to the Lord for allowing me the immense joy, the profound grace of having been a pastor among this noble and good people, like ours. Thank you,” he said on April 10, 2019. He was the first bishop forced into exile under the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship.
Monsignor Canales: “The Church in Nicaragua will be an example for the world”
Bishop Canales of Danlí, Honduras, spoke with LA PRENSA during the Christmas festivities. In this interview, he reflected on the difficult year the Catholic Church in Nicaragua has endured, discussed the stance of the Central American Episcopal Conferences, shared how the exiled bishops are doing, and sent a message to all Christians in the country.
Have you been able to communicate with the three exiled bishops?
Yes, I have communicated with two of them. I have been able to speak with Monsignor Carlos Enrique and Monsignor Rolando Álvarez. I have not yet been able to contact Monsignor Isidoro Mora, but I am hopeful to make contact with him soon.
How are they?
I have had several moments where I’ve been able to speak with both. Both are doing well, of course, well in the sense that despite the suffering they endured, they are supported by the Church. No one is truly well when they are away from their flock. But they are in good health, full of hope, and surrounded by their brothers in the Church: Monsignor Herrera in Guatemala, and Monsignors Álvarez and Mora still in Europe. However, they are not where they should be, where God placed them, which is in the dioceses of Jinotega, Matagalpa, and Siuna.
I guess you know them personally
Of course, we know each other. The three bishops are very valuable individuals for the Church and the communities. They were all pastors fully committed to the ministerial life, dedicated to the life of the Church, but they were also deeply involved in the realities of what it means to be a citizen in a country like Honduras, which faces many problems.
How do you assess this year of persecution for Catholics in Nicaragua?
Since the attack against the Catholic Church began in 2018, 2024 has been the toughest year. Three bishops were expelled, and the persecution against priests has intensified. It was a year of harsh blows to the Church, but I see it, and I believe, that at the same time the Church is being oppressed, the people of God are learning from this pain. This is how it has been throughout the two thousand years of history we have, but the Church always moves forward because no human being who commits such abuses is eternal in this world. The Catholic Church in Nicaragua, I have no doubt, will emerge victorious and will be a great testimony not only for Central America but for all of America and the world.
What position will the bishops of Central America take in 2025?
Since the persecution of the Church began, the Episcopal Secretariat of Central America has always included the situation in Nicaragua as a point on the agenda. At times, we refrained from speaking out because the Church always wants to leave space for dialogue. But the problem is that those who oppress the country misinterpret silence, thinking that they have intimidated the Church. In reality, it has been a prudent silence. The Church has the courage of Christ, not human courage. In our last meeting at the end of November in San Salvador, we agreed that we needed to make a strong gesture, so from Panama to Guatemala, we would have a day of prayer for the country.
We have seen several mentions of Pope Francis regarding the situation in the country. Who informs His Holiness of what is happening in Nicaragua?
I believe the call for the prayer day across Central America had a significant impact because we had been silent. A silence in search of dialogue, but that word is not known by a regime that already has its sights set on establishing a totalitarian state. Yes, we will do something again, but first we will pause. In order to have something to say or some other kind of gesture, for now, we hold on to what happened on December 8th, when prayers for Nicaragua were held from the last village in Panama to Guatemala, in the cities, in groups, and movements.
At the end of the year, what would you say to the Christians of Nicaragua?
It is painful what they are going through, but this is not new. Well, I think “painful” doesn’t even cover it. I live it through the proximity, but despite the great suffering, this is not the first time it has happened in the history of the Catholic Church. Look at history and know that a people, after being persecuted, becomes more fervent, more evangelizing, and more aware of their role in this world we are living in. That would be my message to all Nicaraguans going through these difficult times.
In 2024, the persecution was fierce, and 2025 will not improve
Between April 2018 and July 2024, at least 245 priests, religious men and women no longer carry out their pastoral work in Nicaragua due to the repression by the Ortega-Murillo regime against the Catholic Church, according to the fifth report Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church?, presented in September by lawyer and researcher Martha Patricia Molina, who spoke with LA PRENSA.
She has documented the assaults on the religious institution over these years, and like other sources consulted, she highlights the distinct nature of the year 2024 compared to previous ones.
“This was a chaotic year for the Church with 180 reported assaults. However, this figure underreports the true extent of the situation, as the repression has been so severe this year that there is no longer permission to even report or announce these events. A clear example of this is that not even Pope Francis’ pastoral letter was distributed by Catholic media or parishes in Nicaragua,” pointed out the lawyer.
Parishes with reduced activity
Regarding the general situation of these dioceses that have lost their bishops and many priests, Molina points out that parishes have reduced their pastoral activities, and in many of them, daily Mass is no longer celebrated.
Furthermore, she states that 2025 will be another year of persecution “because as long as the dictatorship remains in power, the Church will continue to suffer, and even worse with the new Sandinista political constitution that will soon come into effect, which will further legitimize the arbitrariness committed by the dictatorship against the religious institution.”
Nicaraguan journalist Israel González, who continues to follow the daily events of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua from exile, explains that after thoroughly researching the history of Catholic persecution in the Americas, he concluded that this is one of the most severe in the past century.
“The most serious religious persecution”
“We are facing, without fear of being wrong, the most severe religious persecution in all of Latin America in the 21st century. To this day, there is no area of society where the Church is present that has not been affected by the repression of the Ortega-Murillo regime,” he said.
According to the journalist, due to the shortage of priests, laypeople have taken on a more prominent role in the reality of their parishes. However, this brave work of the faithful has also had consequences.
On August 10, 2024, Carmen Sáenz, a Catholic lawyer working at the Matagalpa Curia, and Lesbia Gutiérrez, an employee of Caritas from the same diocese, were kidnapped. As of the last day of this year, both women remain missing.
Currently, they are among the 45 political prisoners counted by the Mechanism for the Recognition of Political Prisoners as of December 13, 2024.
Pope Francis refers to Nicaragua twenty times
During this year, Pope Francis referred to the crisis in Nicaragua twenty times. Three of these mentions occurred in December. According to the journalist, this high number of statements demonstrates the great concern of the Holy See.
“If the attacks against Catholics continue to be so irrational, I have no doubt that the Pope will continue to raise his voice, which is the true ‘power’ he holds as the voice and spiritual and moral reference for 1.3 billion people worldwide.”
LA PRENSA, which also lives in exile due to the dictatorship, knows that human rights violations in Nicaragua will continue as long as the country remains under the Ortega-Murillo regime. The persecution of Catholics and any citizen who openly expresses a different idea or questions the regime is a reality.
However, despite this, it is essential to recognize the persecuted Church as a key actor. The Church has suffered all kinds of abuses, and despite the exile of its bishops and constant attacks, it remains firm and is the institution with the greatest credibility in Nicaragua. For this reason, LA PRENSA, in recognition of the testimony of these bishops and the Catholic Church, has decided to name them as the Persons of the Year in 2024.