A day after Bishop Isidro del Carmen Mora Ortega said that the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua (CEN) “continues to pray” for Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, political prisoner of the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, police arrested him on Wednesday, December 11 December 20th, fixed. when he traveled to the community of Santa Cruz, located in the municipality of La Cruz de Río Grande on the southern Caribbean coast.
Monsignor Mora Ortega is the second bishop arrested by the Sandinista regime, which has doubled the religious persecution of the Catholic Church, especially against these prelates, who are the highest ecclesiastical authorities in Nicaragua after Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes. The presidential couple first arrested Monsignor Álvarez, head of the Diocese of Matagalpa, and sentenced him to 26 years in prison in February 2023 for refusing expulsion. Bishop Álvarez, a symbol of resistance against Ortega and Murillo, was charged with the crimes of “treason,” undermining national integrity and “spreading false news.”
However, in the case of Mora Ortega, Bishop of the Diocese of Siuna, it is not yet known what he is accused of, let alone where he is. The uniformed officers intercepted the prelate as he was on his way to the confirmation of 230 parishioners of La Cruz de Río Grande. Lawyer Martha Patricia Molina, author of the study Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church?, reported that seminarians Alester Sáenz and Tony Palacios were also kidnapped.
The trigger for the arrest of Monsignor Mora Ortega was the public expression of solidarity with Bishop Álvarez, who is locked up and isolated in a cell at La Modelo prison. “I would like to convey the greetings of the Bishops’ Conference. We are always united and praying for this beloved Diocese of Matagalpa, for Monsignor Rolando and for the journey of each of you. “We are united in prayer, in communion, in faith, in love, in tenderness,” said the religious during the Mass commemorating the 99th anniversary of the founding of the diocese.
The Diocese of Matagalpa is “a quarry of faith,” according to the homily of Monsignor Mora Ortega. “It takes the drive of the layman who accepts the mission with love and joy,” he said, quoting the parable of the good shepherd: “The shepherd leaves 99 sheep behind to look for one (…) in the time in that we live.”, brothers, that you have to leave one to go in search of the 99″.
Isidro Mora Ortega was ordained a priest in 2003 and appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Siuna in April 2021. Previously, he was vicar general of the diocese of Matagalpa and parish priest of the church of San Ramón Nonato in the northern department.
“Sometimes we are discouraged, but how beautiful it is to always find people of faith, people who are there in silence, people who serve the Church, people who are there persistently, people who are there and take responsibility. “I like it when people talk about the good shepherd, the good shepherd who gives his life for his sheep,” he said, referring to the faith of parishioners that remains despite the criminalization of the Catholic faith by the Catholic Church The Church was maintained by the Sandinista regime.
The Ortega and Murillo governments continue their crusade against the Catholic Church from various sides. On November 29, priest Jairo Antonio Mercado Pavón, who returned to the country after a pastoral trip to the United States, was denied return to Nicaragua. As of last October, there were 84 exiled and banished priests. Meanwhile, police have banned more than 3,000 processions in the country since Easter, when dozens of community members were arrested.
/p>