CV NEWS FEED // The Holy See welcomed 12 Nicaraguan priests to the Vatican Thursday, after the Nicaraguan dictatorship released them from prison on the condition that they leave the country.

Dr. Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, said on October 19:  “I can confirm that the Holy See has been asked to receive 12 priests from Nicaragua, recently released from prison.” 

According to Bruni, the priests “will be welcomed by an official from the Secretariat of State in the afternoon and housed in some facilities of the diocese of Rome.” 

The regime in Nicaragua has accused the Church in the country of conspiring to overthrow the government. Since the beginning of October, the government has arrested six priests. They are among the 12 priests who arrived at the Vatican on Thursday.   

In a two-page statement distributed to the local press, the government said the 12 priests had been sent to Rome after “the intercession of high authorities of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua and the Vatican.” 

The dictatorship closed the Vatican Nunciature in Nicaragua and expelled the Apostolic nuncio in March 2022. On March 17, 2023, the Vatican closed the Nunciature definitively by pulling the chargé d’affaires as a result of a request from the Nicaraguan government.

The government of Nicaragua said in a statement that the decision to release the priests was made to help “secure and defend peace.”

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