Monsignor José Ignacio Munilla, bishop of Orihuela-Alicante, in Spain, revealed that he has sent a book on the life of the Spanish martyred bishop, Monsignor Diego Ventaja, to his counterpart and political prisoner of the Ortega regime, Monsignor Rolando José Álvarez.
This Monday, February 27, during his Radio Maria program “Sixth Continent,” Munilla also explained that he sent a letter to the director of the Jorge Navarro de Tipitapa Penitentiary System, better known as “La Modelo”; asking him “for the mercy of sending that book to the prisoner.”
The Spanish bishop believes that the story of the martyrdom of Monsignor Diego Ventaja, Bishop of Almería, assassinated during religious persecution at the beginning of the 20th century, can help and inspire the prelate of Matagalpa, imprisoned by the Nicaraguan dictatorship, according to the Catholic news agency ACI Prensa.
Related news: Ortega justice sentences Monsignor Rolando Álvarez to 26 years in prison
For his part, Monsignor José Ignacio Munilla assured that the letter from a listener of his program was the source of inspiration to carry out this action in support of Bishop Rolando Álvarez, who was sentenced to 26 years and 4 months in prison for being critical. to the human rights violations committed by the government of Ortega and Murillo against the people of Nicaragua.
The listener, identified as Pedro, recalled in the letter the figure of the martyred prelate, whose life he considers can help Monsignor Álvarez “reinforce the conviction that his path has already been traveled by other bishops in Spain during the Civil War.”
He maintained that “if God asks you to sow the land of Nicaragua with the seeds of martyrdom, may you have all the strength, certainty and security that the Holy Spirit will assist you.”
Based on that request, Monsignor Munilla said that he sent the book with a letter in which he assured the religious leader that the entire audience of his radio program “Sixth Continent” prays for him.
Likewise, he specified that there is a risk “that a shipment like that is lost and they do not make it arrive, but we entrust it to God. We have done what we have to do.”
“On behalf of all of you, I send this book to that prison where Monsignor Rolando Álvarez is so that he may have the consolation of learning about the life of this martyred bishop of Almería, Blessed Diego Ventaja Milán,” he added.
On February 10, the Ortega justice sentenced the bishop of the Diocese of Matagalpa to 26 years and 4 months in prison, in addition to the loss of his nationality. The prelate, who was under house arrest, was transferred to the “La Modelo” prison after refusing to leave the country along with 222 other political prisoners who were exiled from Nicaragua and sent to the United States.
