Rolando Alvarez, bishop of Matagalpa, was arrested in the early hours of Friday and “under house arrest” according to the police. Eight other people, including five priests and lay people, were taken with him, according to the Episcopal Council for Latin America and the Caribbean (Celam).
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“I am following carefully, with concern and pain, the situation created in Nicaragua.” Pope Francis expressed his concern Sunday, August 21, about the growing tensions between the state and the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, two days after the arrest of Bishop Rolando Alvarez, a critic of the authoritarian regime of Daniel Ortega.
“I would like to express my conviction and my hope that, through an open and sincere dialogue, we can still find the bases of a respectful and peaceful coexistence”added the sovereign pontiff.
Rolando Alvarez, bishop of Matagalpa, was arrested in the early hours of Friday and “under house arrest” according to the police, who had surrounded the bishopric since August 4. The police cited activities “destabilizing and provocative” of the bishop. Eight other people, including five priests and lay people, were taken with him, according to the Episcopal Council for Latin America and the Caribbean (Celam). They are being held in El Chipote prison, according to the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh). The bishop is being held in a family residence.
The government has been putting pressure on Rolando Alvarez since he denounced the closure by the authorities of five Catholic radio stations in his diocese, and demanded the “respect” freedom of worship as well as the cessation of “harassment” imposed on the Catholic Church.
On Wednesday, 26 former heads of state and government from Spain and Latin America appealed to Pope Francis to “stand firmly in defense of the Nicaraguan people and their religious freedom”accusing President Daniel Ortega of “primitive dictatorship”.
Relations between the Catholic Church and the government have been strained since 2018, when protesters demanding the resignation of the authoritarian Nicaraguan president took refuge in churches. The repression of the demonstrations left more than 350 dead. Daniel Ortega has accused the Catholic clergy of complicity in the coup attempt hatched by Washington.