Wave of Priest Arrests Ends Year in Dictator-Run Nicaragua

Since Christmas, Nicaraguan police and paramilitaries have detained more than a dozen priests, including an archdiocesan vicar, as the Sandinista regime escalates a campaign of terror against the Catholic Church — an institution it has struggled to subdue. Reuters reported in the afternoon of Dec. 30 that the total number of priests detained numbered 12 in the prior three days. On Jan. 1, citing Nicaraguan media outlet 100% Noticias and other local sources, Vatican News reported that a priest was arrested after he celebrated Mass on New Year’s Eve.