As reported by LA News on 27 March 2022, the Bishop of Matagalpa was
followed and intercepted by four members of the national police whilst travelling in his car. The police took photos and treated the bishop in a "brusque and arbitrary manner". More serious was a
communication received by the Holy See in Rome from the government of Nicaragua, as reported by Vatican News on 12 March 2022: This stated that Archbishop Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag, Apostolic Nuncio in Managua since 2018, was required to leave the country immediately.
World Watch Research analyst Rossana Ramirez comments: "For the last few years, the relationship between the Catholic Church and President Ortega has been at a low ebb. However, the sudden expulsion of the country"s leader of the Catholic Church and representa-tive of the Pope marks an all-time low. Such a move not only has an effect on diplomatic relations, it is also a clearly intimidating message for all other church leaders in Nicaragua. It is not an isolated event for bishops and others known to suffer harassment for their opposition to government abuses of power. Indeed, Nicaragua is going through a period marked by repressive action by the government targeting civil society in general. Further examples are the
expulsion of the leading representative of the International Red Cross (Washington Post, 24 March 2022), the cancellation of the legal status of a further
25 NGOs (LaJornada, 18 March 2022) and the dismissal of the country"s
OAS ambassador (Infobae, 24 March 2022)."
