Nicaragua: Police again ban Catholic processions


The Nicaraguan police banned for reasons of “public security” two popular Catholic processions which were to be held at the end of September in Masaya, 30 km southeast of Managua, the capital’s archdiocese said on Saturday.

Relations between the Catholic Church and the government of Daniel Ortega have been strained since the anti-government demonstrations of 2018, when protesters took refuge in churches. On August 13, the police had already banned a procession in Managua, citing the same reasons.

The two prohibited processions were to be held on September 29 for Saint-Michel Archange, and the next day for Saint-Jérôme. This last procession is one of the most important in Nicaragua.

Masaya had been the scene of massive demonstrations during the popular movement of 2018. President Ortega accuses the Catholic clergy of complicity in these demonstrations, the repression of which left more than 350 dead and which he described as an attempted coup. hatched by Washington. The crisis even led to the expulsion in March of the Apostolic Nuncio Msgr. Waldemar Sommertag and the house arrest in August of the Bishop of Matagalpa, Msgr. Rolando Alvarez, a critic of the regime.

In power since 2007, Daniel Ortega, 76, was re-elected in 2021 for a fourth consecutive term at the head of his country in a ballot from which all his potential opponents of weight were absent, arrested or forced to exile.



Source link -94