Ortega Regime Jails Monsignor Isidoro Mora

Police arrested Monsignor Isidro del Carmen Mora Ortega, 63, the bishop of the Siuna diocese, on Wednesday, December 20th. He would be the second Catholic bishop taken to prison by the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo in the midst of a crusade against the Catholic Church in Nicaragua.

The bishop Isidro Mora was reportedly intercepted by the police as he was heading to the Santa Cruz parish in the municipality of La Cruz de Río Grande, where he had planned to perform confirmations for 230 parishioners, a source told the Mosaico CSI portal.

The arrest comes one day after the Catholic bishop expressed that the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua (CEN) remains united in prayer, both for the Diocese of Matagalpa and for its bishop Monsignor Rolando Alvarez, sentenced by the dictatorship to 26 years in prison and stripped of his Nicaraguan nationality for fabricated crimes associated with treason to the homeland.

Meanwhile, lawyer Martha Patricia Molina, author of the study “Nicaragua, a persecuted church?”, pointed out that in addition to Monsignor Mora, seminarians Alester Saenz and Tony Palacios were also kidnapped.

“I would like to convey the greetings of the Episcopal Conference (of Nicaragua). We are always united in prayer for this beloved Diocese of Matagalpa, praying for Monsignor Rolando, praying for the journey of each one of you. We are united in prayer, in communion, in faith, in love, in tenderness,” said Monsignor Mora during the Mass on the 99th anniversary of the creation of the Diocese of Matagalpa, on Tuesday, December 19, at the San Pedro Apostol Cathedral in Matagalpa.

The bishop Isidro Mora also emphasized that the Diocese of Matagalpa, which he describes as “a quarry of faith,” needs the push of laypeople who assume with love, joy, the mission. He recalled the parable of the good shepherd, pointing out that he leaves 99 sheep to go after one. But, he noted, “we live in times, brothers, where one must leave one to go in search of the 99.”

“Sometimes we encounter discouragement, but how beautiful it is always to find people of faith, people who are there in silence, people who are there serving the Church, people who are there persevering, people who are there taking on responsibilities. I like it when we talk about the good shepherd, the good shepherd who gives his life for his sheep…,” said the Catholic leader, pointing out that there are sheep that already know where the good shepherd is and that “they can themselves assume their mission.”

Mora is originally from Matagalpa and was ordained a priest on September 20, 2003. Before being appointed Bishop of Siuna on April 8, 2021, he was the vicar general of the Diocese of Matagalpa and parish priest of the San Ramon Nonato Parish in the municipality of San Ramon, Matagalpa.

Translated by Havana Times.