EU bishops demand release of clergy detained in Nicaragua
By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press
ROME (AP) — European bishops are demanding the immediate release of Nicaraguan clergy who have been detained in the government’s crackdown on the Catholic Church. Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, president of the Commission of the Bishops Conferences of the European Union, said European bishops would do “everything in their power” to press EU institutions to work to liberate the detainees. In a letter he says the clergy have been “falsely accused” and are being subject to unjust persecution. Hollerich’s letter to the head of the Nicaraguan bishops conference came a day after a Nicaraguan court sentenced four Catholic priests to 10 years in prison on conspiracy charges. The accusations stem from long-standing government allegations that the church backed illegal pro-democracy protests.