He spent more than thirteen years working in the media of the Diocese of Matagalpa, both on radio, television and social networks. He graduated in social communication and accompanied Bishop Rolando Álvarez in all his missions through the parishes of the department. He had to transmit each of the Eucharist that the religious presided over, a prisoner today of the dictatorship.
His love for the Catholic faith and his fidelity to the Bishop of Matagalpa made him a target of the brutal persecution unleashed by the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, who since 2018 have declared war on the church.
Manuel Antonio Obando Cortedano fell in love with the radio from a very young age. When he was a teenager, he was curious about how a station’s equipment was operated, how music was programmed and how transmissions were made.
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As a good Catholic, he began his apprenticeship on “Radio Hermanos”, which was close to his home and was the official voice of the Diocese. “It was supposed to be only three months, but God had other plans and he spent 13 years and eight months working for the department’s Catholic media,” he recalls.
«Recruited” by Monsignor Álvarez
On April 2, 2011, Monsignor Álvarez was transferred from the San Francisco de Asís parish, in Bolonia, in Managua, to the Diocese of Matagalpa to direct it. Obando Cortedano was sent by “Radio Hermanos” to cover this massive religious activity and was impressed by the personality of the new bishop.
Already in the Sunday broadcasts, during a Eucharist, at the time of peace, he was surprised when Bishop Álvarez, in person, addressed him and asked him what role he had on the radio. He explained that he was a collaborator and was learning to broadcast.
Eventually in other activities, Monsignor Álvarez asked him to cover all the missions; but he was only in his third year of high school, so he promised to help out on weekends. Over time, he would become a close friend and collaborator of the high hierarch of the Catholic Church.
For the year 2015, when Monsignor Rolando Álvarez created the Pastoral of Social Networks, he appointed him as manager. Manuel Antonio Obando Cortedano gladly took on this great responsibility. Simultaneously, he was appointed director of all media in the Diocese, which included “Radio Hermanos”, “TV Merced” and all digital platforms. “By then I had graduated in Social Communication,” he says.
Regarding Monsignor Álvarez, he describes him as a very kind, close person. “He has compassion for his sheep, in a special way for the poorest and weakest, in Matagalpa, many can testify to that great heart of the Bishop”, he assures.
chase times
With the civic revolution that broke out in April 2018, Monsignor Álvarez maintained an unwavering evangelization service, and with the Covid-19 pandemic, the media were the alternative to bring the gospel message to homes. The parishioners anxiously awaited the famous program of Monsignor Álvarez “Pastoreo, Comunion y Oración”, where the vast majority of Catholic media in Nicaragua were chained.
According to Obando Cortedano, the crisis worsens in the year 2022. By the month of July, he underwent two eye surgeries, for which he was sent on a subsidy. From his house, he learned that on August 4, when Monsignor Álvarez tried to leave the episcopal curia, he was locked up by the Police, along with other priests and seminarians. «These images where the bishop confronts the Police with the Holy Custody went around the world, but the worst was just yet to come, on August 19 the curia was assaulted and the bishop and his companions were taken by force towards Managua. It is a hard, difficult time », he assures.
Kidnapped, imprisoned and banished
Obando Cotedano also had to suffer kidnapping and jail like his Bishop. «Already for the month of December of that same year, when I least expected it, my turn came and you already know that I also had to carry that cross, as I have said on other occasions; the cross of service and the cross of fidelity to Christ, because it is Christ that we serve, through his church and through his pastors, and as the bishop preached, the church is made to carry the cross with his people », says Obando Cortedano.
“In the midst of this period of the cross that we all have to live in different ways, and each one will have their own experience, I believe that in the end there is peace within knowing that one has served as a professional and also as a Catholic, from the charism and vocation, to which the Lord called us, these have been very difficult times”, he shares.
The young man and reporter from the diocese of Matagalpa Manuel Antonio Obando, together with Monsignor Rolando Álvarez.
“I think – he adds – that if the Lord allowed me to live it, he allowed my family to live this, he knows why and well here he has shown that he accompanies us and that, in his divine providence, he is assisting us and that he is not has left. Just as he has not left all the 222 who came on that flight on February 9 and as he has not left those who are in our country and those who are still imprisoned », he reflected.
Now Manuel Antonio Obando Cortedano lives in the United States, where he was exiled as a political prisoner of the regime. He follows from that country, his work as a communicator on a digital page. “I keep a permanent count of each day that Monsignor Rolando Álvarez continues to be kidnapped, I know that one day he will be free, we will see that,” he said.
By: United Voices.
