Nicaraguan bishop sentenced for treason returns to prison after refusing exile
A Nicaraguan bishop has been returned to prison after refusing a forced exile following negotiations involving the Vatican and the government under the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega as American bishops are calling for his release.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement Wednesday confirming news that emerged last week that Bishop Rolando Jose Alvarez Lagos of the Diocese of Matagalpa in Managua met with a mediator provided by the Vatican in early July to negotiate his options.
Although the mediator attempted to offer him the option to leave the country and be exiled to Rome, the bishop reportedly refused the offer and called on the government to release him from prison indefinitely, along with five other priests who have been put behind bars.
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The Catholic leader also requested that the bank accounts of Roman Catholic dioceses throughout the country be unfrozen and for justice to prevail for religious groups and leaders facing persecution across the country by the Ortega government.
According to the rights group Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Alvarez was returned to La Modelo Tipitapa prison on July 5.
Alvarez was initially arrested in 2022 and sentenced to 26 years in prison for alleged treason and national security crimes on Feb. 10 because he spoke out against Ortega's mistreatment of Christians. He also had his citizenship revoked. On June 28, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ordered the Nicaraguan government to release the bishop.
The USCCB calls for the international community to pressure Nicaragua to release Alvarez.
Bishop David J. Malloy of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rockford, Illinois, who serves as chairman of the USCCB Committee on International Justice and Peace, called the sentence "unjust."
"I urge the United States and the international community to continue praying for the bishop and advocating for his release," Malloy wrote in a statement.
"I particularly commend the recent Interamerican Court of Human Rights' ruling mandating the immediate release of Bishop Alvarez. The consensus from the international community is clear: the continued incarceration of Bishop Alvarez is unjust and must end as soon as possible."
Auxiliary Bishop Silvio José Báez of the Archdiocese of Managua said in a statement that Alvarez refused to be exiled to Rome because he "would not leave Nicaragua for any reason unless the Pope ordered him to do so."
"He added that it was a decision he made in conscience before God. Thus, there is nothing to negotiate," Báez detailed, according to Premier.
"I know Rolando and he would never bargain away a decision of conscience that he made."
An earlier report compiled by Nicaraguan lawyer Martha Patricia Molina Montenegro documented more than 190 attacks against the Catholic Church since 2018, when church officials began offering aid and sanctuary to protesters demanding the resignation of Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, due to the deteriorating economic conditions in the country.
Nicole Alcindor is a reporter for The Christian Post.
