Monsignor Silvio José Báez, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Managua, extended an invitation to a “day of prayer for Nicaragua” for the cessation of the persecution of the Catholic Church by the Ortega regime and the release of Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, bishop of the Diocese of Matagalpa, priests and laymen political prisoners.
“I invite you to pray the rosary together for Nicaragua this, December 20: for the country and for the Church, for the release of Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, the detained priests and all the political prisoners,” says the text in which it is detailed. that the Iglesia Santa Agatha, in Miami, will be the headquarters of the day that will begin at seven at night. The activity will be broadcast through the parish’s Facebook account.
Related news: Monsignor Báez calls Ortega’s attack on Bishop Álvarez a “crime”
Recently, Bishop Báez expressed that “what the Nicaraguan dictatorship is doing against my brother bishop, Monsignor Rolando José Álvarez, is a crime. Outraging him they condemn themselves. Roland, you are not alone! We are with you, we pray for you and we demand your freedom. With you is God, who does not abandon his prophets », the religious exiled in the United States expressed emotionally.
Báez has been one of the religious voices that has raised its voice the most in demand for the freedom and respect for the physical integrity of Monsignor Álvarez, who joins the list of more than 230 political prisoners.
The Catholic hierarch and apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Estelí is being accused by the Prosecutor’s Office of the alleged crimes of undermining national integrity and spreading false news through information and communication technologies to the detriment of the State and society Nicaraguan.
Through its propaganda media, the Ortega-Murillo regime announced —through a statement from the Managua Central Judicial Complex— that the religious leader will be under house arrest and scheduled the initial hearing for January 10, 2023.
Monsignor Álvarez was kidnapped on August 19 while he was in the Matagalpa Episcopal Curia. At that time, he was taken to Managua where he allegedly remains held at the home of a relative. The priest belongs to a group of 12 imprisoned religious accused, among other crimes, of conspiracy to undermine national integrity.
