The image of Bishop Rolando Álvarez is pinned to the mantle over the statue of Jesus Christ at the Cathedral in Matagalpa, Nicaragua, on Friday. Nicaraguan police on Friday raided Alvarez’s residence, arresting him and several other priests amid escalating tensions between the Catholic Church and Daniel Oretga’s government.
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The image of Bishop Rolando Álvarez is pinned to the mantle over the statue of Jesus Christ at the Cathedral in Matagalpa, Nicaragua, on Friday. Nicaraguan police on Friday raided Alvarez’s residence, arresting him and several other priests amid escalating tensions between the Catholic Church and Daniel Oretga’s government.
Inti Ocon / AP
MEXICO CITY – Nicaraguan police on Friday raided the residence of a Roman Catholic bishop critical of President Daniel Ortega’s administration, arresting him and several other priests in an escalation of tensions between the family. church and a government that is increasingly intolerant of dissent.
The pre-dawn raid came after Nicaraguan authorities accused Matagalpa Bishop Rolando Álvarez of “organizing violent groups” and inciting them to “commit acts of hatred towards the people.”
President Daniel Ortega’s government has systematically waged war against dissenting voices, arresting dozens of opposition leaders last year, including seven potential candidates to challenge him. for the presidency. They were sentenced to prison this year in trials that quickly went public.
The congress, dominated by Ortega’s Sandinista National Liberation Front, ordered the closure of more than 1,000 NGOs, including Mother Teresa’s charity.
Early Friday, the diocese of Matagalpa posted on social media, “#SOS #Urgente. At this time, the National Police stormed the Bishop’s rectory of our Matagalpa diocese.”
The National Police confirmed the detention in a later statement, saying the operation was carried out to allow “the citizens and families of Matagalpa to recover to a normal state.”
“For several days, a positive news from the diocese of Matagalpa was awaited with a great deal of patience, prudence and a sense of responsibility, which never materialized,” the statement said. “With the continuation of destabilizing and provocative activities, the aforementioned public order activity becomes necessary.”
It does not mention specific fees.
Álvarez is being guarded at a home in Managua, where he is allowed to see relatives and Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes, the police statement said.
Others arrested with Álvarez – they did not specify who or how many – are still being processed, police said.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights condemned the detention and called for the immediate release of those detained.
Edwin Román, a Nicaraguan parish priest in exile in the United States said via Twitter: “GOD!
The streets around the church in Matagalpa were relatively empty on Friday. A few parishioners prayed inside, where a picture of Álvarez had been pinned to the mantle of Jesus.
Faithfully attend a Mass at the Cathedral in Matagalpa, Nicaragua, on Friday. Nicaraguan police on Friday raided the residence of Matagalpa Bishop Rolando Álvarez, detaining him and several other priests amid escalating tensions between the Catholic Church and the government of Daniel Oretga.
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Faithfully attend a Mass at the Cathedral in Matagalpa, Nicaragua, on Friday. Nicaraguan police on Friday raided the residence of Matagalpa Bishop Rolando Álvarez, detaining him and several other priests amid escalating tensions between the Catholic Church and the government of Daniel Oretga.
Inti Ocon / AP
María Lacayo said she feels “very sad because we know that our bishop is innocent and an outstanding man.”
“We all love him so much because he’s there for all of us and that’s a huge injustice to him. But as Catholics, we leave everything in God’s hands.” , She added.
Álvarez has been an important religious voice in discussions about Nicaragua’s future since 2018, when a wave of protests against Ortega’s government led to a sweeping crackdown on dissidents.
“We hope there will be a series of electoral reforms, structural changes to the electoral body – free, fair and transparent elections, internationally tracked without conditions,” Álvarez said. months after the protests broke out. “Effectively democratizing the country.”
At the time, a priest in the diocese of Álvarez was shot in the arm by shrapnel trying to separate protesters and police in Matagalpa.
Álvarez has maintained such calls for democracy for the past four years, angering Ortega and Murillo.
Manuel Orozco, a Nicaraguan expert at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, said that Álvarez presented the threat as both an obstacle and a symbol to Ortega.
“The people of Nicaragua are very loyal to the church,” he said. “In a survey I conducted last year, 70% of Nicaraguans said that for them, the political views of religious authority at the national or parish level are important in shaping their political views. their rule.”
“The story (of Álvarez), based on a religious script, a biblical script about fighting the oppressor,” Orozco said. “And he’s not implying to incite violence or call for protest, but he’s saying there is oppression.”
Orozco said the government is betting that its pressure on the church will not yield a “proportionate response” from the international community. “And so they keep pushing the envelope because they don’t see that in the absence of a military invasion, nothing will stop them.”
Friday’s arrest comes after weeks of heightened tensions between the church and the government of Ortega, which has a complicated relationship with Nicaragua’s main religion and its leaders for more than four decades.
The former Marxist guerrilla angered the Vatican in the 1980s, but gradually built an alliance with the church as he moved to regain the presidency in 2007 after a long lapse of power. Now, he seems once again to see a political benefit in direct confrontation.
Ortega initially invited the church to mediate negotiations with the protesters in 2018, but has since taken a more aggressive stance.
Days before last year’s presidential election, which he won for a fourth straight term with his strongest opponents jailed, he accused the bishops of drafting a political proposal. in 2018 on behalf of “terrorists, in the service of the Yankees. … These bishops are also terrorists”.
In March, Nicaragua expelled the papal nuncio, the Vatican’s top diplomat to Nicaragua.
The government had previously shut down eight radio stations and one TV channel in Matagalpa province, north of Managua. Seven of the radio stations are operated by the church.
A poster featuring Bishop Rolando Álvarez and Pope Francis hangs inside the Cathedral in Matagalpa, Nicaragua, on Friday.
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A poster featuring Bishop Rolando Álvarez and Pope Francis hangs inside the Cathedral in Matagalpa, Nicaragua, on Friday.
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The August 5 announcement that Álvarez is under investigation comes just hours after first lady and Vice President Rosario Murillo criticized the “sin against spirituality” and “hate” related to Álvarez. .
The Archdiocese of Managua had previously expressed support for Álvarez. The Latin American Catholic bishops’ conference has criticized what it calls the “siege” of priests and bishops, the expulsion of members of religious communities and the “constant harassment” of religious groups. into the Nicaraguan people and the church.
The Vatican has kept quiet about the Álvarez investigation for nearly two weeks, drawing criticism from some Latin American intellectuals and human rights activists.
That silence was broken last Friday when Monsignor Juan Antonio Cruz, the Vatican’s permanent observer to the Organization of American States, expressed concern about the situation and asked both sides “seek to understand.”
The Vatican was again unavailable for comment on Friday and did not immediately announce the news on its internal communications portal. While with his mother, seemingly in the hope of not increasing tensions, the Vatican has regularly published expressions of solidarity from Latin American bishops in recent days on its Vatican News page.
The president of the Nicaraguan Bishops’ Conference did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Massive street protests across Nicaragua in 2018 called for Ortega to step down. Ortega argued that the protests were a coup attempt carried out with foreign backing and the support of the church.
