The Central American University (UCA) reported that the priest Rolando Enrique Alvarado López is the new rector of the center for higher studies for the period 2022-2025.
The General Secretariat of the UCA, in a circular, detailed that at the proposal of the Provincial Father, the Board of Directors, in session number 257, Alvarado López was appointed as the successor of Father José Alberto Idiáquez to direct the Jesuit educational institution in Nicaragua.
Alvarado López assumes from this Wednesday, June 1, the position on the university campus.
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The Jesuit leader has a degree in Theology with a doctorate in Philosophy. In 1989 he was the personal assistant of Father Ignacio Ellacuría, who was assassinated in San Salvador along with five other Jesuit priests. In addition, he was rector of the Rafael Landívar University (URL) in Guatemala, from 2014 to 2020 he held the position of Provincial of the Society of Jesus in Central America and currently, he was the coordinator of Human Spiritual Formation in the Directorate of Identity and Mission of the Society of Jesus. UCA.
During his work as Provincial, Father Rolando Alvarado was in charge of guiding the work carried out through 40 Jesuit institutions, seven colleges, three universities, 13 parishes, a network of Fe y Alegría centers; and spirituality centers from Guatemala to Panama.
Alvarado López has extensive academic experience and Jesuit training, which will help him direct the Central American University during his rectorship.
For their part, the UCA authorities thanked Father José Alberto Idiáquez “for his efficient and successful performance in the Rectory over the years.”
The now former rector of the university was a key personality during the social protests in 2018. The Jesuit leader on more than one occasion opened the doors of the study center so that the Nicaraguans who were demonstrating against the government of Daniel Ortega were protected from the armed attack and the repression perpetrated by the Ortega Police together with paramilitaries and shock groups that sought to disintegrate the protests.