In San Jose, Nicaragua expelled several clergymen to the Vatican on Sunday, including Catholic Bishop Rolando Alvarez, a prominent critic of President Daniel Ortega, according to family members.
Bishop Isidoro Mora, 13 priests and two seminarians who were detained in Nicaragua were also expelled.
Alvarez, the bishop of Matagalpa, forcefully criticized the government’s deadly response to mass protests in 2018, and was convicted of treason and sentenced to a 26-year prison term earlier this year.
“Thank God he is gone, exiled but now free,” a family member of one of the expelled clergy members said.
Mora was arrested in December for saying at a mass that he was praying for Alvarez, sources said.
The government’s press office did not respond to a request for comment. It has not issued any statements explaining any alleged crimes committed by the priests or reasons for their arrests. Since the protests five years ago, Ortega has accused church leaders of seeking to overthrow his government.
The expulsion was first reported by local media outlets La Prensa and Confidencial.
Reporting by Ismael Lopez; Writing by Cassandra Garrison; Editing by Richard Chang
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