On August 15th, the Nicaraguan Catholic Church reported that Óscar Benavidez, a priest from the northern Siuna diocese, had been detained after conducting Mass, Reuters reported.
Relations between the Church and President Daniel Ortega’s government have been increasingly strained in recent months. The government has shut down Catholic radio stations, as well as prohibited religious processions, according to C.N.N, and the Washington Post reports that Ortega has taken more than 150 political prisoners in recent years. In a statement, the Church said that it “[does] not know the causes or motives for [Benavidez’s] detention, and … hope[s] the authorities will keep [it] informed.”
Though the Church has acted as a mediator between the government and its opponents, traditionally stepping in to administer support and services to underserved populaces in the region at large, its relations soured after violent response to anti-Ortega protests in 2018. Further underscoring the crackdown is the imprisonment of Rolando Álvarez, the Bishop of Matagalpa, who was put under house arrest for over 10 days while under investigation for alleged conspiracy. According to the Washington Post, Álvarez has been one of the most prominent Catholic critics of Ortega’s authoritarian behavior.
Álvarez’s house arrest and subsequent imprisonment prompted a response from U.N. Secretary General António Guterres, who told journalists via a deputy spokesman that he was “very concerned by the severe closure of democratic and civic space in Nicaragua and the recent actions against civil society organizations, including those of the Catholic Church.”
The Association of American States and the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights also condemned Álvarez’s arrest, demanding the Bishop and other detainees’ “immediate liberation.”
The Ortega administration’s attacks on Nicaraguan civil society, including the Catholic Church, cannot be ignored. Pope Francis especially must comment on these attacks on Nicaraguan civil society and democracy in general. While the Holy See has expressed concern over the situation in Nicaragua, given the crucial role that the Church plays in the state, it has both a duty and responsibility, to its clergy and to its Nicaraguan constituents at large, to speak out loudly and forcibly on these issues.
International actors like the United Nations and regional powers like the United States also have a responsibility to condemn Ortega’s increasing authoritarianism.
The international political and religious community cannot accept President Ortega’s violent rule. Those with the freedom and ability to speak out must do so.
