Nicaragua’s government has announced the release of 12 members of the Catholic clergy, jailed on various charges widely considered spurious, who have been sent to Rome following an agreement reached with the Vatican. The priests had been imprisoned in line with the government crackdown on dissent which has targeted the Catholic Church, a vocal critic of President Daniel Ortega. Some discern in the priests’ release weakness on the part of the government, while the omission from the list of Nicaraguan bishop Rolando Álvarez, whose February conviction for charges such as treason [WR-22-33] brought about the rupture of Nicaragua’s relations with the Vatican, looks set to remain a major source of friction between the Ortega administration and the Church.End of preview - This article contains approximately 869 words.
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