The pope admits that "there is dialogue" with Nicaragua

Pope Francis admitted that “there is dialogue” with Nicaragua when questioned this Thursday about the situation in that Central American country, where several members of the catholic church are detainedincluding Bishop Rolando Álvarez.

“In Nicaragua the news is clear there is dialogue, there has been talk with the government. There is dialogue, but this does not mean that everything the government does is approved or disapproved,” assured the pontiff during the press conference on the flight back to Rome from his three-day trip to Kazakhstan.

“Problems need to be solved and right now there are problems. I would at least like the Sisters of Calcutta to be able to return” to Nicaragua, added the Argentine pope, referring to the missionaries who were expelled last July from that Central American country.

“They are women and good revolutionaries. But they are revolutionaries of the Gospel. They are not at war with anyone,” he added.

Francisco explained that “he will never stop the dialogue” with the government despite described as “serious from the diplomatic point of view” the expulsion last march of the apostolic nuncio, Waldemar Sommertagwho had participated in 2019 in the negotiations between the government and the opposition.

“It is difficult to understand the things that have happened, also to ingest,” the pope commented.

The retention of Bishop Álvarez last August increased tensions between the church and the government of Daniel Ortega, a 76-year-old guerrilla who has been in power since 2007, protected by three successive re-elections.

The president accuses several bishops of “coup plotters” for supporting the opposition protests that called for his resignation in 2018.

Relations have also deteriorated due to the closure of Catholic media, including the channel of the Episcopal Conference and by the decision to withdraw the legal status of the Missionaries of Charity Association, of the order of Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

According to a report by the Nicaraguan government, the nuns had failed to comply with various legal obligations, violated regulations against money laundering, the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and were not accredited by the Ministry of the Family to lead Your activities.