2023-08-13 18:23:00
August 13, 2023 / 11:23 am
Lawyer Martha Patricia Molina denounced that the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega has prohibited the priests Tomás Sergio Zamora Calderón and William Mora from returning to Nicaragua, after having participated in the World Youth Day (WYD) held in Lisbon (Portugal).
From August 1 to 6, the capital of Portugal hosted WYD, attended by Pope Francis and more than a million young people from around the world, including a delegation from Nicaragua.
The priest Tomás Sergio Zamora Calderón, parish priest of the Nuestro Señor de los Milagros Parish belonging to the Diocese of León attended WYD2023 (Lisbon, Portugal) and upon his return today the dictatorship prohibited him from entering #Nicaragua. pic.twitter.com/OgPtD6VEjQ
— Martha Patricia M (@mpatricia_m) August 11, 2023
“The priest Tomás Sergio Zamora Calderón, parish priest of the Nuestro Señor de los Milagros Parish, belonging to the Diocese of León, attended WYD2023 (Lisbon, Portugal) and upon his return today the dictatorship prohibited him from entering Nicaragua” , Molina reported on August 11, through his account on the social network X.
The lawyer, author of the report “Nicaragua, a persecuted Church?”, indicated that Fr. Zamora Calderón “was for a long time responsible for Cáritas León”, which was “forced to close”, and treasurer of the Diocese.
Weeks before, Fr. Tomás Zamora “had received a ‘courtesy visit’ from an authority of the CSJ (Supreme Court of Justice)”. “Obviously these visits are always intimidating,” said the Nicaraguan lawyer.
The lawyer indicated that the community “is dismayed by the news because he was a dynamic priest and very close to his people.”
Regarding Fr. William Mora, the researcher denounced that “the Sandinista dictatorship prohibited his entry into the national territory”, after having also participated in WYD Lisbon 2023.
The priest William Mora, parish priest of the Cristo Rey Parish – Ubu Norte Paiwas, Diocese of Siuna, attended the WYD 2023 that was recently held in Lisbon Portugal, the Sandinista dictatorship prohibited his entry into the national territory. He was responsible for the pastoral pic.twitter.com/ngQtXfpz1W
— Martha Patricia M (@mpatricia_m) August 11, 2023
Fr. Mora is the parish priest of the Cristo Rey – Ubu Norte Paiwas parish, in the Diocese of Siuna, and responsible for Youth Ministry. The priest “had an active pastoral life in his community that now wonders what will become of them without his pastor,” said Martha Molina.
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He newspaper La Prensa reported that in recent months the dictatorship of Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo, has denied entry to Nicaragua “to more than half a dozen priests and lay people, most of them Nicaraguan citizens.”
Some of those affected are the priests Deyvis López Jarquín, José Domingo Cuesta (Panamanian), Juan de Dios García, Juan Carlos Sánchez, Néstor Mendoza (Uruguayan), Bishop Rodrigo Urbina and the religious Guillermo Blandón.
Eduardo Berdejo is a graduate of the National University of San Marcos (Peru). He has been part of the ACI Prensa team since 2001.
#complain #Nicaragua #denying #entry #priests #JMJ #Lisbon