Priest Uriel Vallejos leaves Nicaragua and asks not to forget the detainees

(CNN Spanish) — Father Uriel Vallejos, pastor of the Divine Mercy Church of Sébaco in the Diocese of Matagalpa, published this Tuesday on his account Twitter who is in Italy, after two weeks without publications and constant rumors about his self-exile.

“This morning I have made a pilgrimage to Assisi, land of peace and before the crucifix that spoke to Saint Francis saying: ‘Repair my Church’, I have put under the intercession of Saint Francis and Saint Clare of Assisi, the restoration of peace in our homeland,” wrote the priest.

Vallejos reported this Sunday through Twitter that he left the country.

The Diocese of Matagalpa has not published any official statement on the location of Father Uriel Vallejos.

Vallejos was also director of the channel and the Catholic radio of Sébaco, two of the media belonging to the Diocese of Matagalpa that were closed on August 1 by the Nicaraguan Institute of Telecommunications and Post Office (Telcor), arguing that they did not have authorization to operate.

The bishop of Matagalpa, Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, said on August 2 that he had submitted all the documentation in previous years, but that the Communications Regulatory Entity did not respond to his requests to update his legal status.

Vallejos had denounced last August 2 that members of the Directorate of Special Operations of the National Police carried out an operation to enter the closed media outlets in Sébaco and that they even entered a chapel.

“There are many riot police inside the chapel, outside and in the school. Force everyone!” he denounced on Twitter.

Vallejos, in his Twitter message this Sunday, asked not to forget the bishop of Matagalpa, who is serving 20 days this Monday under house arrest in his family’s house in Managua, and is being investigated by the National Police for allegedly supporting the formation of violent groups that allegedly carry out actions to destabilize the State and attack the authorities.

Three other priests, two seminarians and a layman – who were held in the Matagalpa curia for 15 days – were taken to the Judicial Assistance Directorate in Managua, also under investigation.