![]() ![]() ![]() He was subsequently convicted of “undermining national integrity” and spreading false information after a secret trial in which he was denied legal representation of his choice. The regime exiled 222 political prisoners and stripped them of their citizenship in February, but Bishop Álvarez refused to board the flight carrying them to Washington. It is something from outside of what we are living, as if it were a communist dictatorship in 1917 or a Hitlerian one in 1935.” Nicaragua severed ties with the Vatican after Pope Francis said of the situation earlier this year, “We have a bishop in prison, a very serious and capable man, who wanted to give his testimony and did not accept exile. Priests opened their parishes to protesters attacked by police and paramilitaries and later accompanied the families of political prisoners. Ortega and Murillo, have called bishops “terrorists” and “coup mongers” and expelled several church workers, priests and religious from the apostolic nuncio to the Missionaries of Charity.Ĭhurch leaders attempted to find an exit to the country’s political crisis through a national dialogue in 2018, after street protests erupted demanding Ortega’s ouster. Additionally, a bishop who is a shepherd doesn’t go far from his people because a dictatorship imposes it on him.” Hence, there is nothing to negotiate.”īishop Báez also tweeted, “As an innocent citizen, he has a right to be in his country. He added that it was a decision he made in conscience before God. Rolando Álvarez is a man of proven faith, brave, determined, firm in his convictions, and he does not cave easily.”Īuxiliary Bishop José Silvio Báez of Managua, who has been exiled in Miami since 2019, said in a series of tweets that Bishop Álvarez told him just prior to his arrest “that he would not leave Nicaragua for any reason unless the pope ordered him to do so. He’s a brave man who doesn’t fold,” Bishop José Antonio Canales of Danlí, Honduras, told OSV News. Government spokeswoman and President Daniel Ortega’s wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, did not answer questions sent by OSV News, but sent an attachment stating in multicolored text: “Peace, our victory, in light, life and truth, in a free fatherland, we walk proudly, the new world!”īishop Álvarez has repeatedly refused to leave Nicaragua, even as persecution of the prelate and the country’s Catholic community escalated. The Nicaraguan bishops’ conference and Vatican didn’t respond to requests for information. Nicaraguan authorities have not provided information on the bishop or his well-being since March 24, when he was filmed having a meal with relatives and coerced into a brief interview. “I urge the United States and the international community to continue praying for the bishop and advocating for his release.” “We received news last week of yet another breakdown in negotiations to free Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa, Nicaragua - unjustly sentenced to twenty-six years in prison and stripped of his citizenship in February,” Bishop Malloy said. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, issued a July 12 statement upon confirmation of the facts of the bishop’s status. Malloy of Rockford, Illinois, the chairman of the U.S. He was returned to prison July 5, the news outlet reported.īishop David J. The reports, which were first published in independent Nicaraguan media outlets and news agency Reuters, cited ecclesial and diplomatic sources saying the bishop had left the prison on July 3 and was being held in the installations of the Nicaraguan bishops’ conference.īishop Álvarez, however, refused to leave the country, according to Nicaraguan news organization Confidencial. The poll was published amid press reports of Bishop Álvarez being moved from the notorious Modelo prison and prepared for exile. “He is loved for his conviction, his firmness and his love for God and the people.” … His pain, his kidnapping, his unjust imprisonment is the picture of what Nicaragua lives,” a Nicaraguan priest living in exile said of Bishop Álvarez. “He is the moral reserve of an entire people. A surprising 56% of Sandinista supporters viewed the sentence unfavorably, according to the poll which was conducted in mid-June. The poll by CID Gallup showed 79% of Nicaraguans responded unfavorably when asked their opinion on the 26-year prison sentence given to Bishop Álvarez, after being accused of treason. (OSV News) - Nicaraguans overwhelmingly disapprove of the conviction and imprisonment of Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa, according to a survey in the increasingly repressing Central American country, where the Sandinista regime continues cracking down on the Catholic Church. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |