The bishops of Nicaragua issued a statement expressing their communion with Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, bishop of the Diocese of Matagalpa, who was kidnapped by the Ortega Police this morning after 15 days of arbitrary detention in the Diocesan Curia of said city.
“Today we feel with deep pain this wound that we suffer as a Church in Nicaragua and we pray for our brother Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, bishop of Matagalpa, for all our priests and lay faithful so that the Lord gives us the word to make known without fear “the mystery of the Gospel “”, expresses the statement of the Nicaraguan Episcopate.
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The bishops, brought together in the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua (CEN), also confirm that Monsignor Álvarez has “a de facto prison house” and that Leopoldo Brenes, Archbishop of Managua, visited him seeing his health “deteriorated”.
“(Brenes) had the opportunity this morning to talk with Monsignor Álvarez, he found him physically deteriorated, but spiritually strong with trust in the Lord,” underlines the statement from the Nicaraguan Church.
The bishops of Nicaragua assured that they are “in penance and prayer” in the face of the religious persecution undertaken by Ortega against the Church.
“Most Holy Mary intercede for all those who live and die because of faith in Jesus Christ and his Church. (…) Teach us to imitate his faith, his hope, his charity and his dedication to the end in the hands of your son, Jesus Christ », concludes the document of the Nicaraguan Catholic hierarchy.
