Pope Francis, the highest leader of the Catholic Church, expressed his pain and dismay at the imprisonment and sentence that the Daniel Ortega regime imposed against the Bishop of Matagalpa, Monsignor Rolando Álvarez.
The head of the Nicaraguan Church was sentenced to 26 years and four months in prison without even holding a trial. The dictatorship accuses him of crimes of conspiracy, propagation of false news, obstruction of aggravated functions and contempt of the authorities.
The pontiff, who also alluded to the 222 exiled political prisoners, asked the Ortega-Murillos, taking advantage of his homily in the Plaza de San Pedro, to open up to dialogue.
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Pope Francis’ message comes amid criticism of the Church for remaining silent in the face of constant threats, imprisonment and harassment of Nicaraguan Catholic leaders.
Among the group of exiles, eleven are linked to the Church. Five priests, two seminarians, a deacon and three lay people who worked in the Episcopal Conference media were expelled from the country. There are still three religious in prison.
Monsignor Álvarez is the first Nicaraguan bishop imprisoned by the Sandinista dictatorship. The regime also declared him stateless.
The Episcopal Conference of Costa Rica joined the deep sorrow at the “injustice” committed against the hierarch. He called for the persecutions to cease, for which he asked priests to offer “this intention in the Eucharists and all the holy people of God to unite in an attitude of constant prayer.”
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For his part, Honduran Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez, spoke out in rejection of the sentence against his brother in the episcopate, Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, and criticized the decision of the Ortega-Murillo regime to withdraw Nicaraguan nationality from “those who think differently.”
“They want to oppress freedom,” denounced the hierarch in his Sunday homily and reminded dictators that everyone always ends badly.
The Spanish bishops also spoke out against the banishment and elimination of Nicaraguan citizenship for those released from political prison. In addition, they reproached their brothers in faith for the persecution.
In a statement, they said they joined “the feelings of the bishops of the Nicaraguan Episcopal Conference who suffer persecution by the country’s government for defending the freedom of Nicaraguans. We ask all Catholics and all people of good will to pray for the peaceful resolution of this conflict and an active commitment to peace that has its indisputable foundation in justice.
Cenidh, one of the entities outlawed by Ortega, launched an SOS for the leader of the Church, a conscience hostage to the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. The Nicaraguan agency demanded to know in what conditions the chief is being detained and what is his physical and psychological condition.
“We do not know if they have him in Gallery 300, El Infiernillo, if he is with the other political prisoners or with common prisoners,” lamented Cenidh through a post on its Twitter account, stressing that the personal integrity and life of the prelate are at risk.
