According to news reports the Ortega government in Nicaragua ordered the arrest of three priests from the Dioceses of Esteli and Jinotega; also, five other religious from both dioceses were forced to "drive around" in private vehicles, while being threatened. The priests are Fr. Julio Norori, Fr. Iván Centeno y Fr. Cristóbal Gadea. Fr Julio Ricardo Norori and Fr Iván Centeno, both from the Diocese of Estelí, and Fr Cristóbal Gadea, from the Diocese of Jinotega, were detained this Sunday, October 1 by men in civilian clothes as ordered by Daniel Ortega's regime. Their parishes are - San Juan Evangelista Parish of San Juan del Río Coco, Madriz / Divina Providencia Jalapa Parish, Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua / Diocese of Jinotega. In addition, five other priests from both dioceses were forced to "drive around" in private vans, while being threatened. Researcher Martha Patricia Molina confirmed were under surveillance throughout Sunday. The three priests arrested had been " straightforward in their homilies. Norori, a priest of the parish of San Juan del Río Coco, Madriz, completed 25 years of priestly service in May 2023 and was a teacher at the Seminary of the Diocese of Estelí. Centeno is the priest of the Immaculate Conception of Mary Parish in Jalapa, Nueva Segovia. Both were taken to Our Lady of Fatima Seminary, where they are being held under of "house arrest". The location of Father Gadea, who went to Spain in 2019 to report the persecution of the Church in Nicaragua, is unknown, as indicated by a source linked to the Church.
Image (From left to right) Father Cristóbal Gadea, Father Julio Ricardo Norori, Father Iván Centeno, Source: Facebook Stella Maris TV and ACN
The administrator of this diocese is the bishop of Matagalpa, Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, remains imprisoned as a political prisoner and was sentenced to 26 years in prison.
The church led by priest Iván Centeno asked for "prayers for our parish and our priests" on Sunday afternoon through its Facebook account.
Although news of the arrest of priest Erick Ramirez Velasquez, of the Cristo Rey church in Telpaneca, Madriz, circulated on social networks, the parish page denied the information. "Our parish priest Erick Ramirez is in perfect condition in the parish," they wrote on Sunday night. The dictatorship of Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua held eight priests as political prisoners: three are convicted of fabricated crimes in trials without the right to defense; two are under "seminary by jail"; two are imprisoned in Managua and the exact location of another has not yet been confirmed.
Among the three convicted priests is the bishop of Matagalpa, Rolando Álvarez. The other priests with a firm sentence are: Monsignor Leonardo Urbina, from Boaco, and priest Manuel Salvador García, from Nandaime. All three were arrested in 2022.
The other imprisoned priests are Osman Amador Guillén, from the diocese of Estelí, and Jaime Iván Montecinos Sauceda from the municipality of Sébaco, Matagalpa.
In addition, priests Leonardo Guevara Gutiérrez and Eugenio Rodríguez Benavides continue being held in the seminary under "investigation".
Source El Confidential
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