(OSV News): Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa, was convicted and sentenced by a Nicaraguan court to 26 years in prison on February 10— barely a day after he defied the president, Daniel Ortega, by refusing to go into exile. The court convicted the outspoken bishop on charges of conspiracy to undermine national integrity and spreading false information after a secret trial in which he was denied a lawyer of his choosing.
He was also stripped of his Nicaraguan citizenship and prohibited from holding elected office or a public position. The bishop was not present as Judge Octavio Rothschuh handed down the decision on February 10 over state-controlled media.
“I have been much saddened by the news that comes from Nicaragua, and I cannot but remember with concern the bishop of Matagalpa … and also the people who were deported to the United States,” Pope Francis said on February 12, America magazine reported on February 12.
Ortega disparaged the bishop the previous day as “deranged” and accused him of being “someone who considers himself leader of the Church in Nicaragua, the Church in Latin America.”
Bishop Álvarez refused to board a February 9 flight carrying more than 200 political prisoners to the United States, according to Ortega, who says the bishop wanted to meet first with his fellow bishops. He was subsequently moved from house arrest [Sunday Examiner, 22 August 2022]—where he had languished incommunicado for five months—to a prison notorious for deplorable conditions.
I have been much saddened by the news that comes from Nicaragua, and I cannot but remember with concern the bishop of Matagalpa … and also the people who were deported to the United States
Pope Francis
“Irrational and uncontrollable hatred from the Nicaraguan dictatorship toward Bishop Rolando Alvarez. Merciless vengeance against him. They have not withstood his moral stature and his prophetic coherence,” tweeted Auxiliary Bishop Silvio José Baez of Managua, who is in exile in Miami.
“Rolando will be free. God will not abandon him,” he tweeted. “They sink further each day in their fear and evil,” he wrote about the regime.
Bishop Álvarez’s conviction follows the Ortega regime sending 222 political prisoners to the United States, including six clergy also convicted of conspiracy and spreading false information.
Ortega has persecuted political opponents—arresting seven potential presidential candidates prior to his winning re-election in 2021, in a race the United States and European countries considered rigged. His regime has also extinguished the registrations of non-governmental groups, forced the closure of church charities and educational projects, and suppressed independent media outlets.
Irrational and uncontrollable hatred from the Nicaraguan dictatorship toward Bishop Rolando Alvarez. Merciless vengeance against him. They have not withstood his moral stature and his prophetic coherence
Auxiliary Bishop Baez
The Church in Nicaragua has a complicated history with Ortega who first claimed power in a 1979 revolution with the Sandinistas and returned to office in 2007, presenting himself as a proper Catholic and supported by some in the Church hierarchy.
Church leaders clashed with Ortega and his wife, vice president, Rosario Murillo, after protests over a proposed social security reform erupted in 2018. Parishes provided shelter for protesters and priests subsequently accompanied the families of political protesters.
“The Church has been a moral voice in supporting the defense of life and dignity,” said a Nicaraguan priest, who wants to remain anonymous, prior to Álvarez’s sentencing. “It opted to be a home or field hospital, as the pope says.”
The priest said, “Bishop Álvarez, is the most beloved and most respected bishop for his coherence and his commitment to the poor and neediest. He has been a clear and firm voice in defense of human dignity and, in his role as a pastor, he has been a prophetic voice in defense of the most vulnerable.”
