MEXICO CITY (OSV News): A pair of priests were reported abducted from their parishes in Nicaragua as the country’s increasingly totalitarian regime continues cracking down on the Catholic Church and silencing all dissenting voices.
Father Ivan Centeno and Father Julio Norori were abducted on October 1 by plain-clothed individuals, prompting fears the priests were taken by paramilitaries. The two were identified as parish priests in the Diocese of Estelí in the country’s northwest, where imprisoned Bishop Rolando Álvarez is apostolic administrator.
Immaculate Conception of Mary Parish in the municipality of Jalpa, where Father Centeno is pastor, said in an October 1 Facebook post: “Brothers, we ask for your prayers for our parish and our priests. United in prayer!!!”
Independent Nicaraguan media outlet, 100% Noticias, quoted a witness as saying, “Four men in civilian clothes were waiting for Father Julio Norori,” parish priest at St. John the Evangelist church in the town of San Juan del Río Coco.
A third priest, Father Erick Ramírez, also was reported missing. But his parish later said via social media that he was in “perfect condition” at his church.
The abduction provoked outrage from Nicaraguans forced into exile—and stripped of their Nicaraguan citizenship, in some cases—by the regime of Daniel Ortega, the president and his wife, vice president, Rosario Murillo.
“The fierce persecution of the Catholic Church continues. I ask the Church around the world for their prayers for our persecuted Church!” Auxiliary Bishop Silvio José Baez of Managua said via X, formerly known as Twitter. Bishop Baez has resided in Miami since 2019 after being asked by the Vatican to leave Nicaragua for his own safety.
Church repression has hit such levels that priests in Nicaragua report spies sitting in their celebrations of the Eucharist and feast day celebrations have been largely curtailed. At least three priests travelling abroa—including two accompanying pilgrims to World Youth Day in Portugal—have been denied reentry into Nicaragua in recent months, despite being citizens.
The Jesuits in Nicaragua have lost their legal status and the order’s prestigious Central American University was seized in August by the Ortega regime [Sunday Examiner, August 27].
Most notoriously, Bishop Álvarez remains behind bars after being sentenced to 26 years in prison— a decision handed down in February after he refused to be exiled with other political prisoners [Sunday Examiner, February 19]. His condition is unknown.
Nicaragua has severed diplomatic relations with the Vatican, but a senior Vatican official expressed hopes for dialogue.
“A special thought goes to Nicaragua with which the Holy See hopes to engage in respectful diplomatic dialogue for the good of the local church and of the entire population,” Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Vatican secretary for relations between states, said on September 26 in remarks to the UN General Assembly.
