Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, bishop of the Diocese of Matagalpa and banished to the Vatican by the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, officiated this Wednesday, December 18, his first public mass in Seville, Spain, in which the religious took the opportunity to ask for prayers to all Catholics for Nicaragua.
The priest officiated the mass in honor of the 100 years of canonical foundation of the Diocese of Matagalpa. “In honor of our Lady of Sorrows, in the memory of our Lady of Hope and I must also say that on the eve of the 100 years of canonical foundation of my beloved Diocese of Matagalpa, we pray for our beloved Nicaragua,” said Álvarez .
The religious leader, banished from Nicaragua since January 2024, celebrated mass in the Nuestra Señora de las Huertas parish, in Seville. He also made reference to the pastoral letter sent a few weeks ago by Pope Francis to the Catholic faithful in Nicaragua. “In the most difficult moments, where it becomes humanly impossible to understand what God wants from us, we are called to not doubt his care and mercy,” the bishop noted.
During his speech, Álvarez thanked the bishop of Seville, José Ángel Saiz, and the Spanish people for having opened the doors to him, his priests, seminarians and thousands of Nicaraguans fleeing the Ortega and Murillo regime. At the same time, he asked that the Catholic people of Seville maintain their prayers for him and his country.
As a symbolic act and in gratitude, the hierarch gave his pectoral cross to the Virgin of Sorrows. “I want to make this gesture of love, leaving my pectoral cross to the Virgin of La Dolorosa and I would like this gesture to be contemplated by my faithful of Matagalpa in the countryside and the city, telling them that I am praying for them,” said the religious.
This is the first time that Monsignor Álvarez officiates a public mass since his exile and banishment on January 14, 2024. The bishop was expelled from the nation along with 18 other religious who were deprived of their freedom by orders of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo .
The Sandinista regime has launched a fierce persecution against Catholic priests and bishops, against whom it has declared war for criticizing state violence and the authoritarian drift of the ruling couple.
In their anti-Catholic crusade, Ortega and Murillo have ordered the imprisonment of religious and lay people, they have exiled, denationalized and confiscated priests; They have frozen bank accounts of the Catholic Church and ordered the confiscation of assets, charity centers and foundations administered by the various dioceses of the country.
