The Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council (Celam) issued a statement expressing its solidarity “in the face of the difficult sociopolitical situation that the Nicaraguan people are going through and that impacts the pastoral life and integrity of various members of the Catholic Church.”
“In a special way, we stand in solidarity with Msgr. Rolando Álvarez, Bishop of the Diocese of Matagalpa and Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Estelí, who has denounced situations of persecution and harassment by some members of the public force,” said the bishops of the Celam.
Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, managed to leave the Santo Cristo parish, in the sector of Las Colinas, Managua, where he had been sheltering since the night of Thursday, May 18, under police siege. Since the morning of Monday, May 23, Monsignor Álvarez has been in the Matagalpa Seminary.
However, as happened in Las Colinas, in Matagalpa a police fence is maintained around the Seminary and in the Archbishop’s Curia, as far as the bishop was unable to reach.
“We ask the Government of Nicaragua to respect the integrity and freedom of the members of the Catholic Church, appealing to the path of dialogue and non-violence to guarantee peace and fraternity,” added the Celam statement.
This week the Episcopal Conference of Honduras also issued a statement in which it patented its “solidarity and spiritual closeness” with the bishops of the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua.
“We want to express our solidarity with all the people of God who pilgrimage in this sister country, in these difficult times, in which they have been suffering increasing harassment, aggression and various forms of persecution by the Government of Daniel Ortega,” says the statement from the bishops of Honduras.
“We recognize and value the testimony of fidelity and perseverance of the Church that pilgrims in Nicaragua, especially its pastors: Bishops and priests,” the statement concludes.
