The government of Nicaragua released this Sunday two Catholic bishops, including Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, a strong critic of President Daniel Ortega, to 13 priests and three seminariansand sent them to Rome, reported the media and Nicaraguan opponents in exile.
Álvarez was arrested in August 2022 and sentenced last February to 26 years in prison. Among those released is also the bishop Isidoro Mora and 13 other priests arrested in December, according to priest Uriel Vallejos, humanitarian activist Haydée Castillo and the media, all in exile.
“The Ortega-Murillos want to leave Nicaragua without priests. Another plane full of pastors from the people to exile,” reported Vallejos without further details, who cheered for “free Nicaragua”, the Catholic Church, the exiled priests and the Nicaraguan exiles in general.
At the moment, the Government chaired by Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua has not confirmed this information.
The release of the Nicaraguan religious occurs 14 days after Pope Francis, after praying the first Angelus of the year, expressed his “concern” about the detention of Catholic priests in Nicaragua, and asked that “the path of dialogue always be sought.” ” to overcome problems.
Also almost three weeks after the United States demanded that Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega “immediately” release Álvarez, 57, bishop of the diocese of Matagalpa and apostolic administrator of the diocese of Estelí, both in northern Nicaragua .
Furthermore, nine days after the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCNUDH) for Central America demanded that the Ortega Government report on the whereabouts of Bishop Isidoro Mora, who had been detained since December 20 in amid a wave of arrests of Catholic religious.
On October 18, the Nicaraguan Government released 12 priests and sent them to the Vatican after an agreement with the Holy See, although Bishop Álvarez was not among them, who was reluctant to leave the country.
Previously, on February 9, 2023, the authorities released another 8 priests and sent them to the United States, as part of 222 Nicaraguan political prisoners released.
The relations between the Ortega Government and the Catholic Church are experiencing moments of great tension, characterized by the expulsion and imprisonment of priests, the prohibition of religious activities, and the suspension of diplomatic relations.
Nicaragua has been going through a crisis since April 2018, which has worsened after the November 2021 elections, in which Ortega was re-elected for a fifth term, fourth consecutive and second alongside his wife, Rosario Murillo, as vice president, with his main contenders in prison.
INTERNATIONAL EDITORIAL
*With information from EFE and AFP
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