Pope Francis has expressed his concern over the situation of Nicaraguan bishop Rolando Álvarez, a critic of the Nicaraguan government, He was sentenced to 26 years in prison in the latest provision of that government against the Catholic Church and the opposition
alvarez he was sentenced on Friday after refusing to board a plane to the United States with 222 other prisoners, all opponents of President Daniel Ortega. In addition to prisonÁlvarez was stripped of his Nicaraguan citizenship.
“The news from Nicaragua saddened me and not a little,” the pontiff declared in St. Peter’s Square to the crowd gathered for the traditional Sunday blessing.
And he added: “I cannot help but remember with concern the Bishop of Matagalpa, Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, whom I love so much, and also the people who were deported to the United States”.
The pope expressed his love and concern for Álvarez and called on the faithful to pray for politicians to open their hearts.
alvarez was arrested in August last year along with many other priests and lay people. Ortega ordered the mass release of politicians, clergy, students and activists widely considered political prisoners, sending some of them on a flight to Washington on Thursday. Ortega said Álvarez refused to board the plane without being able to consult with other bishops.
The bishop, who was under house arrest, was taken to the nearby Modelo prison.
The exile of political prisoners
Among the 222 released Nicaraguan opponents are i former presidential candidate Cristiana Chamorro and his brother and former minister Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, as well as other politicians who wanted to challenge Ortega in the last election.
Two other Chamorro family members linked to the La Prensa newspaper, now published online in exile, and former guerrilla commander Dora María Téllez were also released and deported to the United States.
In announcing the measure on Thursday, Ortega said the 56-year-old bishop of Matagalpa, who has been detained for conspiracy since August, refused to travel to the United States with the group of those released.
Source: Clarin
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