The Society of Jesus condemns the “expulsion” of six Jesuit priests in Nicaragua

SAN SALVADOR, Aug. 19 (EFE). – The Central American District of the Society of Jesus, based in San Salvador, on Saturday condemned the “eviction” of housing in Nicaragua where six Jesuit priests were in charge of the University of Central America. (UCA), closed this week by the country’s justice.

The Society of Jesus, in a statement, noted that it “condemns this outrage” and expressed its “confidence that the Lord of History continues to welcome the Jesuits of Nicaragua under his banner at this time.”

The religious organization stated that “the Nicaraguan police appeared with members of the judiciary in the house of the Jesuits to demand their expulsion, under the pretext that this house is also the property of the Nicaraguan state.”

She explained that “the priests showed the agents the deed to the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering and the Society of Jesus, but the agents ignored the documents and ordered them to leave the house, only allowing them to take away a few items of personal use.”

He noted that “the six members of the community complied with the orders of the authority and withdrew from the house,” and added that “the Jesuits who were evacuated were fine in a safe place.”

Accommodation for priests is sought within the closure of Jesuit UCA, one of the most prestigious centers of private study in Nicaragua.

The Government of Nicaragua published on Friday in the Official Gazette La Gaceta an agreement of the Ministry of the Interior agreeing to revoke the legal personality of the UCA, granted on August 13, 1960, and to order the confiscation of its assets.

This week, a Nicaraguan judge ordered the transfer of movable and immovable property, as well as bank accounts belonging to the Central Asian Society, to the state, after the Public Prosecution Office (Prosecutor General’s Office) accused it of being a “center of terrorism and the organization of criminal acts.” groups”.

The Central Asian Federation confirmed the official letter on Wednesday and rejected the “unfounded accusations” of the authorities.

Because of this position, the Jesuit University, whose rector was Rev. Rolando Enrique Alvarado López, decided to suspend its academic and administrative activities.

Last week, the authorities froze bank accounts and froze the assets of the Federation of Central Asia, while on Monday a panel attached to the Supreme Court of Justice revoked the accreditation of the university’s mediation centre, actions carried out in the midst of friction between the Ortega government and the Nicaraguan Catholic Church. EFE

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