Nicaragua: Police attacked the episcopal see and arrested Bishop Rolando Alvarez

Police Nicaragua on this Friday, he entered by force the episcopal palace of the Diocese of Matagalpa (North) and arrested Bishop Rolando Alvarez, and also seven of his employeeswho were imprisoned and detained since August 4 last year.

“Urgently! Now the national police have entered the episcopal curia of our Diocese of Matagalpa”, – said the church headquarters in their social networks.

Alvarez, 55, Bishop of the Diocese of Matagalpa and Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Esteli, is accused by police of attempting to “organize aggressive groups”, ostensibly for the purpose destabilize The State of Nicaragua and attacks on the constitutional authorities”, although they have not provided any evidence so far.

“Don’t worry about wearing a festive dress in the Kingdom of God,” Alvarez wrote in Twittera few hours before capture.

Hierarch, critic of President Daniel Ortega’s government, arrested along with priests Jose Luis Diaz D Sadiel Eugarriosfirst and second vicar of the Matagalpa Cathedral of San Pedro respectively.

They were also arrested Ramiro Tigerino, rector of the University of Juan Pablo II and head of the parish of San Juan Bautista; as well as seminarians Darwin Leyva D Melkin Sequeiraoperator Sergio Cardenas and the priest Raul Gonzalez.

Call for immediate release

Auxiliary Bishop of Managua and Exiled, Silvio Baezcondemned the arrest and asked the authorities to release and respect the dignity of Alvarez.

“With an indignant and sick heart I condemn nighttime abduction of Bishop Alvarez. Those in the know, tell me where my brother the bishop is! May his captors respect his dignity and release him! Yet again, dictatorship defeats his own evil and diabolical spirit again,” he tweeted.

The Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh) stated in a report that “This morning the police brutally attacked the Episcopal Curia of the Diocese of Matagalpa and kidnapped Monsignor Rolando Alvarez and other priests and laity.” with unknown direction”.

At least five priests and three seminarians were detained along with Bishop Alvarez for two weeks: “My God! How outrageous! Edward Romananother critic of Ortega, exiled to the US.

“Stop being so silent! Let those who must speak and show their faces speak, which is called the “sin of omission”, in regard to Pope Franciscowho has been criticized in various quarters for his silence on the issue amid statements by lay people from Nicaragua, a country with a Catholic majority.

Differences between state and church

The arrest of Alvarez is the latest skirmish in the history of friction between the Nicaraguan Catholic Church and the Sandinistas, led by President Ortega.

This year, the Sandinista government expelled Apostolic Nuncio Waldemar Stanisław Sommertag from the country, imprisoned three priests, shut down eight Catholic radio stations and removed three Catholic channels from TV programming. In addition, he penetrated by force and raided the parish and expelled 16 nuns Missionaries of the Order of Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

Similarly, he forbade the Archdiocese of Managua to hold a procession with the image of the pilgrim of the Virgin of Fatima.

President Ortega branded “terrorists”To the Bishops of Nicaragua, who acted as mediators of the national dialogue, through which they sought a peaceful solution to the crisis that the country has been experiencing since April 2018.

The crisis escalated after last November’s controversial election, in which Ortega was re-elected for a fifth termfourth in a row and second together with his wife Rosario Murillo as vice president, and their main rivals are in prison.

According to the latest national census, the Catholic community makes up 58.5% of Nicaragua’s 6.5 million inhabitants. (EFE)