Bishop Rolando Alvarez was amongst 19 arbitrarily apprehended Catholics to be launched by Nicaragua over the weekend. Picture by Ramirez 22 nic/Wikimedia Commons Jan. 15 (UPI)– After investing almost a year and a half behind Nicaraguan bars, Rolando Alvarez, a popular Catholic bishop and outspoken critic of President Daniel Ortega, has actually been launched from jail in addition to 18 other clergy members. Alvarez, the 58-year-old bishop of Matagalpa province, was put under home arrest in August 2022 after slamming the Ortega’s federal government over its attacks on Catholicism in addition to its human rights record, and was sentenced to 26 years in February, under charges of treason, weakening nationwide stability and spreading out incorrect news, according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. On Sunday, the Nicaraguan federal government revealed in a declaration that following settlements with the Vatican, 2 bishops, consisting of Alvarez, 15 priests and 2 seminarians it had actually apprehended throughout its crackdown on the church have actually been launched. All however among the Catholic Church agents have actually gone back to Rome where they are visitors of Pope Francis, Vatican News reported. The Nicaraguan federal government in the declaration thanked the pope for the “really considerate and discreet coordination.” Amongst those released consist of Father Silvio Fonseca, Bishop Isidro Mora and Father Pablo Villafranca who were apprehended in December simply days before Christmas. The Ortega federal government has actually targeted spiritual organizations, however most significantly the Roman Catholic Church, considering that 2018, according to the USCIRF. In late December, the U.S. State Department included Nicaragua to its list of Countries of Particular Concern over its aggravating spiritual liberty conditions. According to the USCIRF’s 2023 report, spiritual flexibility conditions in Nicaragua “aggravated significantly” throughout the previous year as the federal government intensified its project of harassment and persecution of the Catholic church. “Within the context of a prevalent crackdown on civil society companies important of the federal government, the Ortega program has actually likewise pushed the Catholic Church by impeding or avoiding church-affiliated companies and services from operating,” the report mentioned. Alvarez’s release follows Nicaragua in October expelled 10 arbitrarily apprehended Catholic clergymen from the nation. In November, U.N. human rights specialists stated that Alvarez remained in holding cell and under conditions that “seriously contravene the intergovernmental body’s Nelson Mandela Rules on the treatment of detainees.
Nicaragua launches Bishop Rolando Alvarez, 18 apprehended clergy
