Father Erick Díaz considers that it is not correct that Monsignor Rolando Álvarez and his diocese suffer in solitude, for which he asked the hierarchy of the Catholic Church not to leave him defenseless, after the accusation that the regime of Daniel Ortega y Rosario Murillo imposed against the bishop of Matagalpa.
The Ortega Prosecutor’s Office accuses Monsignor Álvarez of the alleged crime of “conspiracy to undermine national integrity” and “disclosure of false news.”
Father Díaz is in exile. He left his San José Obrero parish in the municipality of El Tuma-La Dalia in the Diocese of Matagalpa before the imminent threat of arrest for maintaining a prophetic voice for the injustices committed by the Sandinista regime. He left the country after the arrest of his bishop, Rolando Álvarez. He considered that he could do more from the outside than being locked up.
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The religious emphatically points out that his brother priests and laymen who are imprisoned in the cells of the Directorate of Judicial Assistance, known as “El nuevo Chipote” were left alone, but he points out that from abroad many lend their voices in the name of them. He affirms that they still believe and trust that a new Nicaragua can be achieved.
“Monsignor Álvarez has not defended a particular good, but a common good, a cause of the majority and a gospel mandate that is the dignity of man. That is a duty of the entire church, now if he put the homeland on his shoulder and defended the people, now it is up to the people to fight for him and his diocese. Not letting everything end in silence”, exalted the religious.
The priest recalled that the Church is unity and everyone must be part of caring for each other and considers that the most affected diocese in the ecclesiastical province of Nicaragua is Matagalpa, for being a diocese committed to social causes.
“It is a diocese that embodied the suffering face of the poor, the most defenseless of the downtrodden and marginalized, this compliance by Monsignor Álvarez tells us that he has done the right thing,” exalted the religious, who last year went to work with his parishioners to coffee cuts to raise money to rebuild their parish and build a new rectory.
Monsignor Álvarez’s departure from the country should not be negotiated
In September of this year, Pope Francis assured that a dialogue is being maintained with the Ortega government, despite the frontal attacks that the Sandinista leader maintains against the Catholic Church, which he described as a “perfect dictatorship.”
Also this year, Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes explained that the dialogue with the Ortega government must not stop, despite the fact that to date there has been no progress; on the contrary, persecution has been increasing with religious leaders to the point of not allowing processions in various municipalities.
Regarding this dialogue, Father Erick Díaz maintains that these conversations should be for Monsignor Rolando Álvarez to return to the Diocese of Matagalpa and continue as a spiritual guide to his faithful.
“Monsignor (Álvarez) should not be negotiated and then be expelled, if that were to happen, the truth would be a scoundrel and sullied and the Church of Nicaragua would speak what the repressors want to hear. That is not what Jesus wants, on the contrary he tells us: that the truth will set us free, ”reflected the cleric.
Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua without pronouncing
On December 13, the Ortega-Murillo regime presented formal accusations in the Managua Judicial Complex against Bishop Rolando Álvarez, who remained under house arrest for more than three months, after being removed with the use of police forces. from the headquarters of the Episcopal Palace of Matagalpa, where he was besieged along with a group of priests and laity.
To date, the bishops who are members of the Nicaraguan Episcopal Conference have not ruled on the accusation nor has the Vatican headquarters.
On November 16, the bishops issued an Advent message on Christmas Eve, where they only refer in point number 3 of the letter to concerns about the social, political, and economic events of the country, such as the immigration crisis, but They do not allude to the situation of the Bishop of Matagalpa.
