“The bishop is kept under house guard in this capital city,” the police said, although they did not specify whose address it was. “He was able to meet with his relatives this morning,” he added, noting that he was transferred “with respect and observation of his rights.”
While the priests and a cameraman who were arrested along with the cleric were sent to prison, Nicaraguan police said on Friday.
The arrest of Monsignor Álvarez
“The National Police has entered the Episcopal Curia of our Diocese of Matagalpa and has taken” Monsignor Álvarez; “his whereabouts are still unknown. We alert the international community and join the chain of prayer,” he said on Twitter. Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council (Celam).
“They took him out with violence and it is not known where they took him,” he told AFP Vilma Nunezpresident of Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh), based on various sources consulted by its entity in Matagalpa. So far there is no official information on the case.
The diocese of Matagalpa, in the north of Nicaragua, warned early Friday of the police entering the bishop’s residence. The whereabouts of those who accompanied Rolando Álvarez in the curia are also unknown.
“How outrageous, they have taken Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, along with the priests who were with him. Enough of so much silence! sin of omissionsaid the priest Edward Romanexiled in Miami, on social networks.
The bishop besieged in his curia
The bishop was held in the curia along with a dozen people since last August 4. The police besieged the place days after Álvarez denounced the closure by the authorities of five Catholic radio stations and demanded that the government of Daniel Ortega respect the religious freedom.
The police announced that the Diocese of Matagalpa is being investigated for trying to “organize violent groups” and incite “hate” to “destabilize the State of Nicaragua.”
“The dictatorship kidnaps Monsignor Rolando Álvarez this morning, they continue in an infernal hunt against the church. More than 190 attacks, desecrated temples, 3 priests imprisoned18 nuns expelled as criminals, dozens of radio stations closed,” he said on Twitter Arthur McFieldsformer Nicaraguan ambassador to the OAS.
Government friction with the Catholic Church
The retention of the bishop occurred in the midst of friction between the Catholic Church and the government of Ortega, a 76-year-old former guerrilla who has been in power since 2007, protected by three successive re-elections.
The last one was in November 2021, with his opponents imprisoned or exiled and in the midst of international questions.
The president accuses the bishops of “putschists” for supporting the opposition protests that called for his resignation in 2018. In the midst of the crisis, the Church tried in 2018 and 2019 to mediate a dialogue between the government and the opposition.
The president reproached the bishops for having accepted an opposition proposal that sought to resolve the crisis by advancing the 2021 elections to shorten his presidential term.
Since then, relations have deteriorated. This year there was closure of catholic mediaincluding the channel of the Episcopal Conferenceand the recent arrest of the priest Oscar Benavidezwithout the reasons being known.
I also know outlawed the Missionaries of Charity Association, of the order of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who left the country in July. In March he had already been expelled to the apostolic nuncio, Waldemar Sommertagwho participated in 2019 in the negotiations between the government and the opposition.
On Wednesday, 26 former heads of state or government from Spain and Latin America published a call to Pope Francisco –who has not spoken publicly about the situation– to adopt “a firm stance in defense of the Nicaraguan people and their religious freedom.”
Source: Ambito
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