Fr. Gustavo Sandino, the pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows, was arrested on 31 December following Sunday Mass he celebrated at Santa María de Pastasma in the Diocese of Jinotega, Nicaragua.
Local sources and exiled
lawyer Martha Patricia Molina confirmed the incident to the local media
outlet 100% Noticias.
In Managua, Fr. Fernando Téllez Báez, pastor of Our Lady of the
Americas, was taken in the early hours a day earlier, and Fr. Jader
Hernández, pastor of the Mother of the Divine Shepherd, the evening of
30 December.
Wave of arrests continues
At least 14 priests have been arrested in recent days, as well as two seminarians, Alester Saenz and Tony Palacio, and the Bishop Isidoro del Carmen Mora Ortega of Siuna.
He was arrested after offering prayers for Bishop Rolando José Álvarez Lagos of Matagalpa and the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Estelí, who was sentenced to 26 years in prison without due process.
Cardinal Brenes' closeness
During Mass in the Cathedral on New Year's Eve, the Cardinal Archbishop of Managua, Leopoldo José Brenes Solórzano, expressed his closeness "to the families and communities who are without their priests at this time," calling on everyone to remain "strongly" united in prayer.
"Ecclesial unity is our strength," he said, and "with Mary, our Mother, at the foot of the cross, may the Lord comfort us and show us his mercy."
Meanwhile, at a press conference, Martha Patricia Molina said that
she had received word yesterday that scheduled Masses in some churches
were not celebrated and the faithful were asked to go home. It is not
known at this time whether the priests in these parishes were arrested.
Reactions from UN
So far, neither the government nor the police have confirmed or denied the detention of these clergymen.
Representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said that Nicaragua is moving "increasingly" away from the rule of law and "fundamental freedoms" by persecuting "political and indigenous leaders, members of the Catholic Church, activists, and journalists" with "repeated cases of arbitrary detention."