Nicaraguan Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes asked the local congregation to trust “fully in the Lord, not in strategies,” this Sunday, nine days after the arrest of Bishop Rolando Álvarez, a critic of President Daniel Ortega.
Álvarez is accused by the Police of carrying out “destabilizing and provocative activities”, and the Catholic Church as well as believers ask for freedom.
“The strength of the humble is the Lord, (it is) to fully trust in the Lord, not in strategies, not in human means, not in the logic of this world, not in calculations, not in great speeches, not in the applause, no”, said Brenes, at the Sunday mass celebrated in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Managua.
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Since Álvarez’s retention in the curia of the Matagalpa Cathedral, on the 4th, two weeks before his arrest, voices from different parts of the world demanded the intervention of Pope Francis.
Last week the pontiff expressed his concern and pain over the situation in Nicaragua and called for “an open and sincere dialogue” so that “the foundations for a respectful and peaceful coexistence can be found.”
Francisco’s position did not improve the situation of Álvarez, nor that of ten other imprisoned priests in Nicaragua, and fueled the internal debate about what the Catholic Church should do for his release.
Brenes, who affirmed that Álvarez is “impaired” after visiting him on the 19th, insisted that the situation of the bishop of the Diocese of Matagalpa and apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Estelí, both in the north, will have a solution.
“The Lord always, in the midst of our problems, of difficult situations, will always find a moment in which he is present,” he said.
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The arrest of Álvarez and 10 priests in recent months is the latest chapter in a 43-year history of disagreements between the Catholic Church and Ortega.
The Sandinista leader has described as “terrorists” the Nicaraguan bishops who acted as mediators of a national dialogue that sought a peaceful solution to the crisis that Nicaragua has been experiencing since April 2018.
The situation in Nicaragua has worsened after the controversial elections last November in which Ortega was re-elected for a fifth term, fourth in a row and second along with his wife, Rosario Murillo, as vice president, with his main contenders in prison.
