The auxiliary bishop of Managua, Monsignor Silvio José Báez, once again demanded from the Nicaraguan dictatorship the release of the bishop of the Diocese of Matagalpa and apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Estelí, Monsignor Rolando José Álvarez, whom he called a “prophet of God”. and he said he is innocent of the crimes that the Sandinista administration accused him of in order to imprison him.
Officiating from the Santa Agatha Church, in Miami, USA, where he is in exile; the prelate bishop urged to celebrate the Eucharist with faith and hope, asking God for strength.
Related news: Ortega “tied the noose around his neck when he imprisoned Bishop Álvarez,” says a priest
Next, Báez told the parishioners gathered in the temple that they should remember his brother, Monsignor Rolando Álvarez Lagos, bishop of the Diocese of Matagalpa, “who is still unjustly detained in the prisons of the Sandinista dictatorship in Nicaragua.”
The Catholic leader is being held in an isolation cell in the prison known as La Modelo, in Tipitapa, paying a sentence of 26 years and four months imposed by justice at the service of the dictatorship, in an express trial, without witnesses or defense suitable. He was accused by the Ortega-Murillo regime of the alleged crime of conspiracy to undermine national sovereignty and integrity, which the dictatorship calls “treason against the homeland.”
Báez reiterated that Monsignor Álvarez is innocent and must be released. “He is innocent, he is a prophet of God, he must be released, he must return to his people,” he remarked.
Related news: Monsignor Rolando Álvarez rejects freedom in exchange for exile: “He wants to be free in his country”, say religious voices
He also called on Catholics to “wait on God” and above all to pray for the imprisoned religious, “as when Peter was in jail and the whole Church prayed. Let us pray as far as the cell where Rolando is, so that the Lord gives him health and strength and increases his hope and that very soon we will have him in our midst,” insisted Bishop Báez.
Recently, information emerged that the Ortega-Murillo dictators were negotiating a second attempt to exile the bishop, however, according to sources that spoke to some media, such as Confidencial, Monsignor Álvarez would have refused to accept his release in exchange for exile.
