The Government of Nicaragua intensified its persecution against the Catholic Church with the arrest of four priests between Friday and Saturday morning. This was reported by local sources, such as the lawyer and activist Martha Patricia Molina, who detailed the names of the detainees: Héctor Treminio, Fernando Calero, Marcos Diaz Prado and Silvio Fonseca. On Thursday he had also denounced the arrest of Carlos Avilés.
Monseñor Silvio Fonseca. Parroquia Santa Faz secuestrando por policia y paramilitares después de celebrar misa.#iglesiaperseguidani #iglesiaperseguidanicaragua pic.twitter.com/fyPUNRWpop
— Martha Patricia M (@mpatricia_m) December 30, 2023
"I am outraged by the unjust kidnapping of three beloved priests of Managua by the criminal Sandinista dictatorship," wrote Silvio José Báez, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Managua, Nicaragua, after learning of the first three kidnappings. Upon learning of the latest arrest - that of Fonseca - he published:
#Nicaragua. Sigue la furia de la criminal dictadura de Ortega desatada contra la Iglesia. Otro querido sacerdote de la Arquidiocesis de Managua ha sido secuestrado hoy: Mons. Silvio Fonseca. Mi cercanía fraterna y mi oración por él. ¡Libertad para él y para todos los sacerdotes!
— Silvio José Báez (@silviojbaez) December 30, 2023
"If any of the two bishops and priests unjustly imprisoned by the Sandinista dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo die in prison, they are under their responsibility. Many of them suffer from chronic diseases, they need their recommended medicine and food," warned exiled priest Edwing Román.
Just a week before this latest wave of arrests, the Ortega and Rosario Murillo regime had detained Bishop Isidoro Mora. The number of detained clerics would rise to a dozen, taking into account a count carried out by Molina.
