Nicaraguan exiles in the United States and Costa Rica demonstrated this Sunday, August 7, in support of Monsignor Rolando Alvarezbishop of the diocese of Matagalpa, to whom the Nicaraguan regime imposed a house for de facto prison.
Nicaraguans in Miami held a sit-in outside the Santa Ágatha church, a parish that has shown its closeness to the Nicaraguan people and where Monsignor Silvio Báez offers the Eucharist since his forced exile.
There, the demonstrators placed the photos of Monsignor Álvarez, of the imprisoned priests, Father Manuel García and Monsignor Leonardo Urbina, and of the parish priest in Sébaco, Uriel Vallejos, who was held in the parish house for four days by the Police.
«Rolando friend, the town is with you! Long live the Catholic Church! Long live our priests!” shouted those present, while demanding freedom for the more than 190 political prisoners.
Former politician Ireland Jerez, exiled in the North American country, said that Nicaragua is facing “very hard times.” “Satan is unleashed on our nation. The hordes of evil want to rule our nation, they want to censor and end, once and for all, our Christian religion. Catholics and evangelicals, today more than ever, we have to be united in prayer, in fasting, in vigilance. The slogan is Stop the repression towards the Catholic Church! », She manifested.
Related news: Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua breaks the silence on Monsignor Álvarez: “If a member suffers, we all suffer with him”
“This fight is spiritual. We are fighting against governors of darkness, against demons that are manifesting in a red and black way in our country and we must keep praying. These (Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo) are criminals, it is not a political project, they are criminals, a Sandinista, Ortega, criminal union that has taken over our country. These criminals must continue to be denounced,” said another protester.
Another group of Nicaraguans held a sit-in outside the Nuestra Señora de La Merced church in San José, Costa Rica. They also participated in a mass at the Metropolitan Cathedral in solidarity with the priests and parishioners of the Nicaraguan Catholic Church.
«Freedom for Nicaragua! Justice for the people of Nicaragua, justice for the murdered, freedom for the political prisoners! Rolando friend, the people are with you!”, was heard in the streets.
Monsignor Rolando Álvarez continues to be “kidnapped” in the Episcopal Curia of Matagalpa along with eleven other people from the Catholic community. The Police imposed a de facto jail sentence on him for alleged incitement to commit acts that destabilize the State.
In recent days, the Nicaraguan exile community in the United States has held continuous sit-ins and vigils in solidarity with the Catholic Church, since the regime increased the persecution against Monsignor Álvarez, bishop of the Matagalpa diocese and apostolic administrator of Estelí.
