Nicaragua: Bishop Alvarez sentenced to 26 years’ imprisonment

Nicaragua: Bishop Alvarez sentenced to 26 years’ imprisonment.

Bishop Rolando Jose Alvarez Lagos of Matagalpa was sentenced

Nicaragua: Bishop Alvarez sentenced to 26 years’ imprisonment.

Bishop Rolando Jose Alvarez Lagos of Matagalpa was sentenced to more than 26 years in prison during a court hearing in Managua on Friday.

The Catholic bishop, was convicted of ‘treason, undermining national integrity and spreading false news’, among other charges. The judge of the Appeals Court of Managua also announced that he would be fined and stripped of his Nicaraguan citizenship.

The sentence, which was originally expected on 15 February, came the day after Bishop Alvarez refused to board a deportation flight to the United States, along with other 222 detained opponents to President Manuel Ortega, including five priests, a deacon and two seminarians condemned to 10 years imprisonment on charges of conspiring against the government.

The deportees were declared “traitors of the homeland” and, like Bishop Alvarez, were stripped of their Nicaraguan citizenship for “committing acts that undermine independence, sovereignty, and self-determination of the people, and for inciting violence, terrorism, and economic destabilization.” They are now waiting for a residence permit in the US.

Two other priests, Fr Manuel García and Fr José Urbina, of the Diocese of Granada continue to be detained in a Nicaraguan prison with similar charges.

A vocal critic of President Daniel Ortega’s Sandinista regime, Bishop Alvarez, who also serves as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Estelí, is the first bishop to be imprisoned since Ortega returned to power in 2007.

He was taken into custody by police officers on August 19, 2022, along with priests, seminarians and lay people, after being forcibly imprisoned for two weeks in the Curia for allegedly having attempted to “organize violent groups” with “the aim of destabilizing the Nicaraguan State and attacking the constitutional authorities”.

He was not charged until December, with prosecutors alleging he had committed “crimes of conspiracy to undermine national integrity and propagation of false news through information and communication technologies to the detriment of the Nicaraguan state and society.”

In January a court in Managua admitted the evidence and ordered Bishop Alvarez to remain under house arrest. He has now been transferred to the Modelo high security prison.

The sentence comes as the crackdown on the Church in Nicaragua intensifies, with ongoing arrests of priests and closures of Church charities and agencies. In televised remarks following the verdict, Ortega reiterated his accusations of “terrorism” against Bishop Alvarez.

Relations between the bishops and the and the Sandinista government have been tensed since 2018 when Nicaraguan authorities clamped down on protests against a series of controversial reforms to the social security system. Despite attempts to mediate in the crisis, bishops were ultimately banned from the dialogue and accused by Ortega of being complicit in an alleged coup.

Relations further worsened after the controversial 2021 elections which confirmed the Sandinista leader for another mandate.

Since the outbreak of the crisis the Church has been the target of several attacks and desecrations, as well as harassment and intimidations of bishops and priests.

In 2019, Managua Auxiliary Bishop Silvio José Báez was forced to leave the Diocese of Managua at Pope Francis’s request after receiving several death threats.

In 2022 the government expelled the Apostolic Nuncio to Nicaragua, Polish Archbishop Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag and 18 Missionaries of Charity.

The crackdown has drawn a widespread outcry from Bishops in Latin America and in the world.

On February 6 the President of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, joined in expressing solidarity to the Catholic Church in Nicaragua and appealed for the release of the detainees.

In a Message released on Saturday, the president of the Latin American Bishops’ Council (CELAM), Archbishop Miguel Cabrejos, warned against the weakening of the rights of the Catholic faithful and expressed “solidarity, closeness and prayer with and for the people of God and their pastors.”

“In faith we are comforted by the words of the Gospel: ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted because they live according to God’s plan, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven’,” writes Archbishop Cabrejos, who is also Archbishop of Trujillo and president of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference. The Archbishop announced that, as part of the Central America-Mexico Regional Assembly of the continental phase of the Synod, Holy Mass will be offered in the Cathedral of San Salvador – which houses the relics of Saint Oscar Arnulfo Romero – for the intentions of the Church in Nicaragua.

The Bishops Conference of Chile has also protested, reacting in particular to the court ruling against Bishop Alvarez.

Calling the process “unjust, arbitrary, and disproportionate,” the bishops of Chile said: “We deplore and reject the situation experienced by Bishop Alvarez and the Church in Nicaragua, which violates human rights, the essential dignity of the person and religious freedom.”

The Spanish Bishops Conference has also issued a statement expressing their sorrow and concern for “the bishops of the Nicaraguan Episcopal Conference who are suffering persecution by the government for defending the freedom of Nicaraguans.”

The Spanish bishops appeal to “all Catholics and all people of good will to pray for the peaceful resolution of this conflict and for an active commitment to peace, which has its indisputable foundation in justice.” They also called on the civil authorities to listen to the voice of the people and to release those still imprisoned for political reasons.

During the Angelus on Sunday, Pope Francis expressed great sadness at the news from Nicaragua. He said he was thinking with great concern about Bishop Alvarez, “whom I love so much,” saying he is praying for him, for those who have been deported to the United States, and for all those who suffer in the beloved nation of Nicaragua.

He invited the faithful to join him in prayers to the Lord asking for the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary.

“May she open the hearts of political leaders and all citizens to the sincere search for peace, which is born of truth, justice, freedom and love, and is achieved through the patient exercise of dialogue.”

CSW’s Head of Advocacy Anna Lee Stangl said on Monday: “It is unconscionable that Bishop Rolando Álvarez Lagos has received such a draconian prison sentence on completely unfounded charges. It is clear from the timing and severity that the sentence is in direct retaliation for his decision to stay in his country. He has been targeted, like many religious leaders in Nicaragua, for refusing to stay silent in the face of corruption and rampant violations of fundamental human rights. We call for Bishop Álvarez Lagos’s immediate and unconditional release, and urge the international community to hold President Ortega and his regime to account for its continued crackdown on independent voices in the country.”

-Independent Catholic News

 

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