The auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Managua, Silvio Báez, expressed his concern on Tuesday about the situation of his colleague Rolando Álvarez, a critic of the government of President Daniel Ortega and who has been under house arrest in Managua since August 19 – without charges have been brought against him so far – and who demanded his release.
“Every day I am more concerned about my brother bishop, Msgr. Rolando José Álvarez,” Bishop Báez, who has been out of the country for 41 months by decision of Pope Francis for security reasons, wrote on Twitter.
“I join the people of God, demanding to see Msgr. Rolando, to know where and how he is, and that the dictatorship – alluding to the Government of President Ortega – set him free,” advocated Auxiliary Bishop Báez of Managua.
“I beg the (Catholic) Church throughout the world to join this demand!” he added.
Álvarez, 55 years old and Bishop of the Diocese of Matagalpa, Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Estelí, both in the north of Nicaragua, was abducted in the early hours of Friday, August 19, by police officers from the provincial episcopal palace along with four priests, two seminarians and a cameraman, after being confined for 15 days.
POLICE ACCUSES HIM OF SUBVERSIVE
The National Police, led by Francisco Díaz, Ortega’s in-law, accuses the high-ranking officer of trying to “organize violent groups,” supposedly “with the purpose of destabilizing the State of Nicaragua and attacking the constitutional authorities,” although for the time being they have not offered tests.
Until now, neither the Public Ministry nor the National Police have publicly presented a formal accusation against Álvarez, who is the first bishop arrested since Ortega returned to power in Nicaragua in 2007 after coordinating a Government Junta from 1979 to 1985 and presiding for the first time. the country from 1985 to 1990.
The Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh) and opposition organizations have also demanded the “immediate freedom” of Bishop Álvarez and respect for his physical and psychological integrity.
Related news: Monsignor Báez exhorts to forgive those who “have collaborated with the dominant unjust system”
Nicaraguan Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes told Efe on September 4 that Álvarez, whom he has gone to visit, “is in good health.”
“I have been talking with him (…) He told me that he is very well about his health. I found him in better spirits. I had a good time talking with him. And he asks us to continue praying for him and hopefully, the Holy Spirit will enlighten us so that we can soon solve this conflict, “she said.
Brenes assured that Álvarez “is being well cared for. His family goes twice a day to visit him. In the morning and in the afternoon”, and that “his cousin, who was the one who took care of his house, cleaned and cooked for him the days she was in Managua, she continues to cook for him”, he indicated.
CHURCH-STATE RELATIONS
The arrest of Bishop Álvarez and seven other priests is the most recent chapter in a particularly convulsive last year for the Catholic Church of Nicaragua with the Government of Ortega, who has branded the leaders as “coup plotters” and “terrorists.”
This year, the Sandinista government expelled from the country the apostolic nuncio Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag and 18 nuns from the Missionaries of Charity order, founded by Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
It has also imprisoned seven priests, shut down nine Catholic radio stations and pulled three Catholic channels from subscription television programming.
The Police have also entered by force and raided a parish, prevented parishioners from receiving the Eucharist inside the temple and besieged other priests in their churches, among others.
Relations between the Sandinistas and the Nicaraguan Catholic Church have been marked by friction and mistrust in the last 43 years.
The Catholic community represents 58.5% of the 6.6 million inhabitants of Nicaragua, according to the latest national census.
