Nicaraguan Dictatorship Exiles Bishop Rolando Alvarez and 14 Priests

The rule of Ortega exiled many priests and religion as part of the campaign against the Catholic Church. In this opportunity Deported 15 ReligionBishop among them Rolando Alvarez. All political prisoners of the Sandinista dictatorship who were serving their sentences were charged with “treason”.

in detail PresTwo bishops and 13 priests, They took a flight to Caracas on Saturday, January 13 and from there to Rome to the Vatican.

Among those released Bishop Isidoro Mora Priest Uriel Vallejos, humanitarian activist Heidi Castillo and 13 other priests arrested in December, according to media reports, have all been deported.

“The Ortega-Murillos want to leave Nicaragua without priests. Another plane full of exiled herdsmen from the city,” Vallejos denounced.

Monsignor AlvarezBishop of the Diocese of Madagalpa and Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Esteli in northern Nicaragua, He was in jail for 500 days in the regime. He was sentenced to 26 years and 4 months in prison by the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega in February 2023. For offenses considered sedition.

Religion played a key role in the mediation by Nicaragua's Synod of Bishops during the failed dialogue process after the mass protests in April 2018. Later, in August 2022, the National Police arrested him and sent him away. His house was accused of “spreading conspiracies and false news damaging to national integrity”.

On February 9, 2023, he was sent to the National Penitentiary, a maximum security prison in Nicaragua known as “La Modelo”, after he refused to board a plane that was supposed to take him with 222 freed Nicaraguan political prisoners. , to America. joined The bishop's refusal infuriated Ortega, who described him as “arrogant”, “uncontrollable” and “energetic”.

A day later he was sentenced to more than 26 years in prison, stripped of his citizenship and suspended for life.

Relations between the Ortega regime and the Catholic Church have experienced moments of great tension, marked by the expulsion and imprisonment of priests, the banning of religious activities, and the suspension of diplomatic relations.

Ortega described the church as a “mafia”. while, In a conversation with Infobae, Pope Francis described Sandinista as a “brutal dictatorship.”.

“With great respect, I have no choice but to think about the imbalance of the person who directs (Ortega). There is a bishop imprisoned, he is a very serious, very talented man. He wanted to give his testimony and did not accept deportation,” Francisco said in an interview with the Infobay portal on March 10. said.

Pope Francis, who prayed the first Angelus of the year 14 days later, expressed his “concern” about the detention of Catholic priests in Nicaragua and asked that “the path of dialogue must always be sought”. problems.

Nearly three weeks after the United States called for Ortega's “immediate” release, and nine days later, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for Central America (OHCNUDH) requested the Ortega regime report on the whereabouts of Bishop Isidoro Mora. , has been detained since December 20 amid a wave of arrests of Catholics.

On October 18, the Nicaraguan dictatorship freed 12 priests and sent them to the Vatican after an agreement with the Holy See, although Bishop Alvarez was not among them, as he was reluctant to leave the country. Earlier, on February 9, 2023, authorities released 8 more priests and sent them to the United States as part of 222 Nicaraguan political prisoners.