In the midst of the tenacious persecution of the Daniel Ortega regime against the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, the Auxiliary Bishop of Managua, Monsignor Silvio Baezasked the population not to be afraid, while he prayed from exile to the Virgin Mary for the country, the Church and the political prisoners, among them the Bishop of Matagalpa, Rolando Álvarez.
Báez came out in defense of a “good bishop”, in reference to Álvarez, accused on December 13 by the Prosecutor’s Office of committing the alleged crimes of “conspiracy to undermine national integrity” and “propagation of false news”.
“Nicaragua suffers a Via Crucis and is crucified. But, just like the crucified, she will rise again. Let’s not lose hope, let’s keep praying, trusting, denouncing and fighting. Let’s not be afraid! The Lord is with us!” he encouraged.
Báez presided this Tuesday, December 20, from the Santa Agatha Church, in Miami, the prayer of the rosary for Nicaragua, for the country and the Church, to ask for the release of all political prisoners
The bishop offered his prayers for a whole people who are going through “dark and painful moments” and who are imprisoned in a jail in the country. He emphasized that he is trying to silence the truth.
“Today’s tyrants continue to be like Pilate, cynical and cruel, fearful and unfair. They shout arrogantly because they are afraid, they silence the truth because their only argument is violence. They don’t care about making people suffer, mocking justice and outraging people. They are the Pilates of today, ”he denounced.
He referred to the publication of a photograph of Álvarez, released by the dictatorship, in which the bishop of Matagalpa is presented alone, isolated, in the courts of Managua, following the script of the judicial fabrication that makes him the first bishop in the modern history of Nicaragua in being accused by the State.
Báez said that they tried, by showing him that way, to lower him and humiliate him, however, “just like Jesus, Bishop Rolando showed dignity, strength and inner peace.” For him, that strength comes from values and his condition as a prophet of God.
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Báez also compared Álvarez to the good Samaritan of the biblical narrative—full of closeness, compassion, and tenderness—and praised his pastoral work describing his actions, based on the phrase that the bishop of Matagalpa “acknowledged the wounds of his people to cure him.”
Government attacks against the Catholic Church intensified in 2022, but since 2018 it was palpable, after the State massacred peaceful protesters and many victims were received in churches, while the bishops demanded an end to the repression.
Ortega has since accused the religious of “coup plotters” and has sustained a hate speech that has resulted in a hunt that has left priests in jail, expelled the apostolic nuncio last March, 18 nuns from the order of the Missionaries of la Caridad at the beginning of July, closed Catholic radio stations, desecrated churches, prohibited processions, and banished also other priests in an escalation against the faith.
Along with the case of Álvarez, there is that of the auxiliary bishop of Managua himself. Báez left Nicaragua in 2019 on the recommendation of Pope Francis after threats made by Ortega fanatics, and from exile he continues to denounce the abuses and call for hope.
Also read: Ortega intensifies repression: 396 attacks against the Catholic Church since 2018
Bishop Silvio Báez accompanied by exiled priests
In the parish of Santa Agatha, he was accompanied this Tuesday, December 20, by the parish priest Marcos Somarriba and two exiled Nicaraguan priests: Edwin Román from Masaya and Juan de Dios García from Managua.
The day passed in an hour and a half. The auxiliary bishop of Managua reminded the other prisoners of conscience, of whom he said “they are innocent and deserve to be released.” Among them it includes the three priests, a deacon, two seminarians and a cameraman who accompanied the Bishop of Matagalpa when he was kidnapped on August 19, after the assault on the episcopal curia.
“As we contemplate Jesus, scourged in the Roman dungeons, we remember before God the more than 200 political prisoners that the Nicaraguan dictatorship has held incommunicado and subjected to cruel abuses, prolonged solitary confinement and insufficient food. His only crime has been to dream and fight for a more just and free country,” said Báez.
He asked God to show mercy to the prisoners of conscience, so that their physical and mental integrity be respected; so that he touches the hearts of the tyrants and frees them. He also prayed that the thousands of migrants from Nicaragua who have left the country in one of the largest exoduses in history will also be protected.
Báez prayed for the Church, so that it knows how to discern clearly and announce the Gospel with courage, so that it may be a community of love, truth, prophetic and missionary, free from fear “and worldly interests.”
On December 19, the tyrant Ortega gave signs of his radicalization against the Church: While He publicly praised the repressive leadership of the Police, with which he maintains power, and insisted on attacking the religious.
