Nicaragua ordinations bring hope - but is it enough?

It is not clear whether new vocations will be sufficient to replace those in exile from the regime.

On July 20, one priest and seven transitional deacons were ordained in the Cathedral of Saint Peter Apostle of the Diocese of Matagalpa, Nicaragua.

It was the first ordination in the diocese since its bishop, Rolando Álvarez, was imprisoned by the Nicaraguan regime in 2022 and later expelled from the country to Rome in early 2024.

Bishop Carlos Herrera of Jinotega, who performed the ordination, did not mention Álvarez during the celebration - a stark reminder that even the slightest mention of the exiled bishop could lead to imprisonment. 

Meanwhile, three transitional deacons were set to be ordained in the diocese of Estelí on July 27. One of them said in a July 26 letter that the ordinations had been cancelled the without providing further explanations. Local sources have indicated that local police had ordered the cancellation. The same day, Estelí’s diocesan administrator, 80-year-old priest Frutos Valle Salmerón, was questioned by police and place under house arrest.

The two sets of ordinations cast a light on the complicated vocational situation in Nicaragua.

The July 20 ordinations may be seen as a sign of hope amid persecution in the Central American country. But the reality is that, although seminaries in the country are still maintaining encouraging numbers, it is not clear whether new vocations will be sufficient to replace those in exile from the regime.

The Church in Nicaragua has faced government persecution since 2018. Still, Matagalpa had a lively vocational situation until the last two years, when that persecution intensified with the seizure, imprisonment and eventual expulsion of Bishop Rolando Álvarez from the country. 

In recent years, the government’s opposition has led to the exile of almost 100 priests from the country. Counting priests who have died and a priest who has left the priesthood, the Nicaraguan clergy has lost about 20% of its priests since 2019.

The situation in Matagalpa is particularly dire, as 25 of the 60 priests of the diocese have been exiled. In total, Matagalpa has lost 40% of its clergy, mostly in the last two years.

Nine of the 28 parishes of Matagalpa do not have a parish priest. Most of these parishes are in rural communities, with small chapels that only had Mass biweekly or monthly before the persecution.

Now, even some of the main churches are unable to have Mass every Sunday. Some are visited by priests from other dioceses, or priests who already have other pastoral assignments but fill in when they can. 

Some rural communities are kept alive by laypeople, deacons, or seminarians who lead liturgies of the word or prayer services as frequently as they can.

Meanwhile, the closure of diocesan radio and TV stations has left more than 60 diocesan employees without a job.

Other dioceses of the country have also been greatly affected. The two smallest dioceses of the country - Siuna and Bluefields - have lost a third of their clergy, including the bishop of Siuna.

The Diocese of Estelí, where Álvarez was also the apostolic administrator, has lost 28% of its clergy to exile, and the Archdiocese of Managua has lost 25%, including its auxiliary bishop, Silvio Báez, exiled since 2019.

But despite the challenging circumstances, local sources told The Pillar that the Nicaraguan bishops find hope and encouragement in the fact that Nicaraguan seminaries are still afloat.

When Álvarez was named bishop of Matagalpa in 2011, he quickly became known for encouraging vocations, which flourished under his leadership. 

A source close to the Diocese of Matagalpa told The Pillar that two years ago, before Álvarez’s imprisonment, the diocese had over 100 seminarians in the Our Lady of Fatima Seminary, an inter-diocesan seminary in Managua. 

It is unclear how many seminarians from the diocese remain, although the seminary currently has over 170 seminarians total, from all dioceses in the country. 

Meanwhile, Managua has a healthy stream of vocations. The archdiocese has its own seminary, which has some 100 seminarians, and it ordains around 10 priests each year. 

But other dioceses’ ordinations have been uneven since the crisis erupted, with many not ordaining any priests in the last few years.

Moreover, seminaries have been affected by the closure of Catholic universities, such as the Juan Pablo II, where many seminarians studied. The UCICAM, which functioned as a faculty of theology and philosophy in the seminary itself, had its legal personality dissolved by the Nicaraguan government last year.

Additionally, many seminarians have gone into exile. Two seminarians and a transitional deacon were in the group of 222 political prisoners exiled in early 2023, and two other seminarians were in the group of clergy members exiled in early 2024 with Bishop Álvarez.

Facing the obstacles of living abroad, some Nicaraguans in exile are being ordained in other countries. 

On May 25, Raúl Vega was ordained a priest in Rome by Bishop Álvarez himself, according to Nicaraguan media. 

Vega was a transitional deacon in Nicaragua when he was jailed alongside Álvarez and a group of other clergy. He was exiled to the United States in early 2023. It is unclear if Vega is being incardinated in the Diocese of Rome or somewhere else.

In April, Fernando Vásquez, a seminarian from Matagalpa, was ordained a deacon in the diocese of Ciudad Quesada, in neighboring Costa Rica.

Vásquez had to flee Nicaragua in 2023 after the police persecuted him when he prayed for Bishop Álvarez during a Liturgy of the Word in a rural community in Matagalpa.

In an ordination in early 2023, Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes of Managua ordained some priests associated with the Neocatechumenal Way. He said some of the new priests being ordained had asked him to leave Nicaragua to return to their countries of origin.

Therefore, the bishops’ hopefulness at the country’s seminary numbers may find itself tempered in the coming years by the reality of the government persecution. 

With a significant portion of the Nicaraguan clergy exiled, imprisoned or fleeing, it remains to be seen whether new ordinations will restore enough priests to minister sufficiently to the country's population - and whether those new priests will avoid the same fate as many of their predecessors.