The Diocese of Matagalpa’s seminary in Nicaragua has been seized by the country’s government. The takeover was initially reported by the Nicaraguan newspaper Mosaico CSI, which stated that at the time of the seizure, there were at least 30 students in training at the seminary.
The St. Aloysius Gonzaga Major Seminary of Philosophy is situated in the Diocese of Matagalpa, led by Bishop Rolando Álvarez, who has been in exile since January 2024 after spending nearly a year in prison on charges of treason.
The dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega has “also increased surveillance of priests in the diocese” in addition to seizing the seminary, according to a post on X by researcher Martha Patricia Molina. Molina charged that the dictatorship sought to “annihilate and eliminate the Diocese of Matagalpa” and “completely stop priestly formation.” Along with the seminary, the Diocese of Matagalpa’s La Cartuja Pastoral Center was seized by the regime on January 16.
Molina also observed, ““I think the same thing will happen as happened with the rest of the properties that the dictatorship has confiscated from the Catholic Church: They will occupy them to convert them into a public building or they will sell the property, or they will convert it into a school. We don’t know what the ultimate goal of this occupation is.”