(ANSA) - MANAGUA, 28 SEPT - Nicaraguan President DanielOrtega has defined the Catholic Church "a perfect dictatorship", two weeks after Pope Francis had assured that "there is a dialogue" with Managua.
"Who elects the priests? Who elects the cardinals? Who elects the pope? It is a perfect dictatorship, a perfect tyranny", exclaimed Ortega in a speech on the occasion of the 43rd anniversary of the founding of the Nicaraguan police.
Francis insisted on September 15 on the need to "never interrupt dialogue" with Nicaragua, where tensions between the state and the Catholic Church have increased.
"There is a dialogue. We have talked to the government. There is a dialogue. It does not mean that we approve of everything the government does. Or that we disapprove of everything," said the Argentine pope.
In March, Nicaragua expelled the Vatican ambassador.
And in August, Monsignor Rolando Alvarez, critic of the regime, was arrested and is "under house arrest", according to the police, who cited the "destabilizing and provocative" activities of the bishop.
Ignoring the outstretched hand of the Pope, President Ortega has violently attacked the Catholic Church.
"I would say to his holiness the Pope, with great respect,
"We hear them talking about democracy", he ironically asked that all clerics - from priests to popes - be elected by faiths.
(HANDLE).