{"id":46910,"date":"2026-10-15T15:15:06","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T14:15:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/?post_type=magazines&p=46910"},"modified":"2026-10-15T16:14:26","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T15:14:26","slug":"praying-was-forbidden-but-we-did-it-anyway-an-interview-with-nicaraguan-exile-santos-julio-sevilla-rivera","status":"publish","type":"magazines","link":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/magazines\/praying-was-forbidden-but-we-did-it-anyway-an-interview-with-nicaraguan-exile-santos-julio-sevilla-rivera\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Praying was forbidden, but we did it anyway.\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Santos Julio Sevilla Rivera never imagined that serving in church choirs would one day make him a target of the state.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Julio was born in Nicaragua in January 1969, with a visual impairment that severely limits his ability to see. He dedicated much of his life to the Catholic Church in Estel\u00ed, teaching vocal harmony, supporting parish choirs and working for the diocese’s Caritas office. He was cheerful and well known in his community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018My work was within the church; I was never involved with violent groups,\u2019 he told CSW. \u2018I had a good relationship with bishops and priests in general, always connected to music.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But after protests swept the country in April 2018, the tides changed. President Daniel Ortega\u2019s government responded with force, increasing repression in an effort to silence opposition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Churches in Estel\u00ed have been under surveillance ever since. Services have been recorded, Easter processions banned, and patrol cars routinely stationed outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Many people stopped going to church out of fear,\u2019 Julio says. \u2018I thought, \u201cGod is my strength\u2026\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 2022, he began noticing that men were following him home. Acquaintances warned him he would be arrested if he kept working with the church. But he responded:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I won\u2019t abandon my religion; I serve God, not people. God\u2019s will be done.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During this period, the Diocese of Estel\u00ed was among the most heavily targeted in the country. Churchgoers were harassed by National Police, while priests, seminarians, deacons and Caritas workers were arrested and imprisoned. Julio did not escape the crackdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mr Sevilla Rivera and his wife <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I knew I had no choice\u2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

On 20 May 2023, Julio sang a thanksgiving Mass at Saint Francis of Assisi parish. After returning home, exhausted, he was suddenly told that someone was looking for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I thought they wanted me to sing at another Mass, but it was the General Commissioner of the National Police, in civilian clothes, with three other men in civilian clothes. They tricked me, saying they were taking me to a meeting for an hour and then returning me home. I knew I had no choice; I couldn\u2019t refuse, so I went with them.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once at the police station, they held him without explanation. For the first three days, he was denied any communication with his family. Five others from Caritas Estel\u00ed were also detained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 9 June, Julio was transferred to La Modelo, a maximum-security prison notorious for holding political prisoners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018They said we religious people were coup plotters, terrorists… For ten days they interrogated me day and night, and then they took me to cells as filthy as toilets. Those days were very hard. A priest, imprisoned with me, gave me a word of encouragement: \u201cDuring the interrogations, may the Lord speak through you.\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His trial in December 2023 lasted just one hour, via videocall. He was sentenced to seven years in prison on charges related to money laundering. Evidence was never disclosed to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I think they arrested me because I was associated with Pastor Eugenio Benavides. He was making strong statements in his homilies; he spoke of defending justice and human rights, and the government didn\u2019t like that\u2026 they want to control what the clergy say.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In prison, the conditions were harsh. Water was limited and food was scarce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018It wasn\u2019t enough; we were hungry,\u2019 Julio recalls. \u2018We weren\u2019t allowed to have a Bible. The guards mocked my faith, telling me that God had abandoned me. But all the Catholics prayed the Rosary and the Hail Mary. It was forbidden, but we did it anyway.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His wife, sisters, mother and daughter were only allowed brief monthly visits. They told him that National Police officers were walking past the house, threateningly, while he was still in prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His already limited vision began to worsen because of stress, poor nutrition and lack of medical care. His family feared that without specialist treatment, he would lose his sight completely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Into exile\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In the early hours of 5 September 2024, Julio was taken from prison and put on a plane to Guatemala. He was expelled from Nicaragua, alongside 134 political prisoners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His wife travelled to join him and act as his guide. Eventually, the couple resettled in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States. They had to leave their three children behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now the nearest Catholic church is a three-hour walk away, unlike in Nicaragua where they could walk to every Mass. Without a car, going to church is almost impossible. However, a priest friend sends them daily Bible reflections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Nicaraguan government took away Julio’s freedom, forced him from his homeland and separated him from his children. But it could not take away his faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018The guards tried to silence us and told us not to pray,\u2019 he says. \u2018We did it in silence because God heard us.\u2019<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An interview with Nicaraguan exile Santos Julio Sevilla Rivera<\/p>","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":46920,"template":"","regions":[137,142],"class_list":["post-46910","magazines","type-magazines","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","regions-latin-america","regions-nicaragua"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazines\/46910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazines"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/magazines"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazines\/46910\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47590,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazines\/46910\/revisions\/47590"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"regions","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regions?post=46910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}