Two more Nicaraguan priests arrested, exiled to Rome

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Nicaraguan government arrested two priests who were then exiled to Rome, shortly after a group of seven priests was sent to Rome earlier in the month.

The priests, identified by Vatican News as Father Leonel Balmaceda, a parish priest and seminary staff member from the Diocese of Estelí, and Father Denis Martínez, vicar of the cathedral of Matagalpa, were arrested Aug. 10 and 11. The two priests were then expelled from the country and sent to Rome, Vatican News reported.

Father Martínez belongs to the Diocese of Matagalpa, whose head, Bishop Rolando Álvarez, was arrested in August 2022 and spent more than 500 days in custody before being exiled to Rome in January along with Bishop Isidoro Mora of Siuna and more than a dozen priests.

The Vatican confirmed Aug. 9 that seven priests from the dioceses of Matagalpa and Estelí who were arrested at the beginning of August had been exiled to Rome.

The Nicaraguan government also announced Aug. 19 in its official newspaper its decision to outlaw 1,500 nonprofit organizations, many of them religious groups, under the pretense of failing to submit financial statements. Among the shuttered organizations listed were a local Caritas office and several Catholic religious congregations. The Nicaraguan government is expected to seize their properties.

According to an investigative report cited by Vatican News, 245 Catholic religious men and women have been forced into exile or have been expelled from the country since widespread protests began in Nicaragua in 2018.

Several priests and dozens of political prisoners were sent to the United States in October 2022 and February 2023, while other groups of priests were sent to Rome in October 2023 and January 2024.

While apparently not under any restrictions, the Nicaraguan bishops and priests in Rome have kept a low profile.