Nicaragua recently detained around a dozen priests as part of a “renewed crackdown” on the Catholic Church. As reported by The Christian Post, the majority of leaders detained were in the diocese led by exiled bishop Ronaldo Alvarez, a strong critic of President Daniel Ortega’s government who was sentenced to 26 years in prison last year for “undermining national integrity.”

On July 26, the National Police detained Father Frutos Constantino Valle Salmerón, 79. They told him he did not have permission to ordain three deacons in the Diocese of Estelí in Managua, according to watchdog organization Christian Solidarity Worldwide.

Frutos, who is a diabetic suffering from hypertension, later became sick in the police vehicle and was placed under house arrest at the National Inter-Diocesan Seminary of Our Lady of Fatima.

Also taken to the seminary were Fathers Ulises René Vega Matamoros and Edgard Sacasa, two senior church officials in the Diocese of Matagalpa, where they were detained on Aug. 1. Over the next two days (Aug. 2 and Aug. 3) the National Police arrested Father Jairo Pravia and Vicar Víctor Godoy of the Immaculate Conception of María de Sebáco Church, Franciscans Friar Silvio José Romero, Friar Ramón Morras, Father Antonio López and Father Salvador López and placed them under house arrest at the Managua-based seminary.

Last Monday, police detained Father Jarvin Tórrez, who serves as rector of the Matagalpa seminary and parish priest of Santa María de Guadalupe Church in Matagalpa, Vatican News reports.

CSW, the United Kingdom-based Christian persecution watchdog, is calling for the release of religious leaders detained by the authorities in Nicaragua.

“The continued detention and arrests of religious leaders by the Nicaraguan government are both unwarranted and unconscionable,” CSW Founding President Mervyn Thomas said in a statement.

“We urge the international community to emphasize to the Nicaraguan government that the ongoing crackdown on independent civil society, the relentless targeting of religious leaders, and the continual violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief are unacceptable. More must be done to hold President [Danie] Ortega, his wife, and their regime accountable for the deteriorating situation of human rights in the country.”

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