According to a source cited by Mosaico CSI, the bishop was detained by the police while he was en route to Holy Cross Parish, located in the small town of La Cruz del Río Grande, to confer the sacrament of confirmation on 230 faithful.
Following his arrest, it was not known whether he was taken to Matagalpa or Managua, the country’s capital, where El Chipote, the prison known for torturing political dissidents, is located and where Catholic priests have been imprisoned in the past.
Arturo McFields Yescas, former Nicaraguan ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), wrote on X Dec. 20 that Mora “was detained for relaying a message and praying for the bishop of the people, Bishop Álvarez, who has been in prison for more than 500 days.”
The day prior to being arrested, Mora celebrated a Mass for the 99th anniversary of the creation of the Diocese of Matagalpa in which he stressed the support and prayers that are being offered for Álvarez by the Nicaraguan Bishops’ Conference.
“I would like to express the greetings of the Bishops’ Conference of Nicaragua. We are always united for this wonderful Diocese of Matagalpa, praying for Bishop Rolando and for the journey of each of you, we are united in prayer, communion, faith, love, and endearment,” the bishop of Siuna said in his Dec. 19 homily during the Mass celebrated in St. Peter’s Cathedral in Matagalpa.
Martha Patricia Molina, Nicaraguan researcher and author of the study “Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church?” on Dec. 21 told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that in addition to Mora, “seminarians Alester Saenz and Tony Palacio were also abducted” by the police.