REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsOct 18 (Reuters) - Nicaragua sent a dozen Catholic priests who had been "processed" by judicial authorities to Rome on Wednesday, the government said, the latest action, a critic said, in a government crackdown on the church.
President Daniel Ortega has at times accused Catholic church leaders of seeking to overthrow his government, while judicial authorities have arrested priests and accused some of committing treason, among other crimes.
An exiled Nicaraguan researcher who publishes records of what she describes as the persecution of the Catholic Church under Ortega said sending the priests to Rome was a "forced removal."
The researcher, Martha Patricia Molina, accused Ortega of seeking to "strangle and disappear" the church with such action.
Bishop Rolando Alvarez, perhaps Ortega's most prominent Catholic critic, was this year sentenced to a 26-year jail term on treason charges, but was not among the 12 priests the government sent to Rome.
Persons:
Stringer, Daniel Ortega, Ortega, Martha Patricia Molina, Bishop Rolando Alvarez, Valentine Hilaire, David Alire Garcia, Christopher Cushing, Robert Birsel
Organizations:
Metropolitan Cathedral, REUTERS, Catholic, Thomson
Locations:
Managua, Nicaragua, Rome, Italy, Nicaraguan, United States