A Christian persecution watchdog has warned that the ongoing crackdown on Nicaragua’s Catholic Church is forcing retired priests to return to work, as congregations are left increasingly unattended.

This warning comes in the wake of the Nicaraguan government’s recent arrest of 13 more clerics and deacons, 11 of whom have been exiled. Local sources report that the Diocese of Matagalpa alone had lost 40 per cent of its clergy by January 2024.

According to lawyer Martha Patricia Molina, a Catholic activist monitoring the persecution from exile in the United States, the diocese once had 70 active priests. Today, only 22 remain.

Among the 13 recently detained is 79-year-old Frutos Constantino Valle Salmeron. He had been preparing to officiate the ordination of three new deacons to meet the spiritual needs of the diocese when he was placed under house arrest by police, who barred him from conducting the ceremony.

The crackdown on priests has intensified over the past few years, gaining international attention when Bishop Rolando Álvarez, a vocal critic of the government, was imprisoned. The bishop was detained for over 500 days and was sentenced to 26 years in prison on charges of conspiracy and spreading false information. In January this year, he was exiled to Rome along several other clerics.

Sara, a source who spoke to Premier Christian News under a pseudonym for security reasons, believes the Nicaraguan government is targeting the Diocese of Matagalpa specifically because it was Bishop Álvarez’s jurisdiction.

“We can understand from the government’s actions against Matagalpa that they want to eradicate the diocese where Rolando Álvarez worked, simply because they see him as a major opponent,” she said. “It’s as if they’re trying to erase Catholicism from an area where it has existed for hundreds of years. It’s just nonsense.”

CSW’s Founder President Mervyn Thomas said: “The continued detention and arrests of religious leaders by the Nicaraguan government are both unwarranted and unconscionable. CSW calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all religious leaders and political prisoners who have been arbitrarily detained and imprisoned in recent months.

“We urge the international community to emphasise to the Nicaraguan government that the ongoing crackdown on independent civil society, the relentless targeting of religious leaders and the continual violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief are unacceptable. More must be done to hold President Ortega, his wife and their regime to account for the deteriorating situation of human rights in the country.”