Bianca Jagger begs the Pope “not to abandon” the bishop detained in Nicaragua

Human rights defender Bianca Jagger pleaded with Pope Francis on Tuesday that “does not abandon” the Catholic Church of Nicaragua, in particular, the bishop detained for six days by Daniel Ortega’s government accused of inciting violence.

“Please, pleaseto the Holy Father who says (…) not to abandon his bishops and his priests, in particular Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, whose life is in danger “, said Jagger, a Nicaraguan resident in London, in a statement to the AFP.

Álvarez, head of the diocese of Matagalpa, in northern Nicaragua, is prevented from 4 August by the security forces to leave the curia house where he lives and works together with 11 other people.

The bishop, a critic of Ortega and his wife and vice president, Rosario Murillo, said on Saturday that the hate speech charge has left him confined to house-prison regime. It was the last time she spoke, in a mass broadcast on Facebook.

Locked down

The imprisonment came after Álvarez, 55, filed a complaint last week the closure by the authorities of five Catholic radios and police “harassment” in his diocese.

It is important that the Pope “denounces what is happening, that he does not forget his church (…) his parishioners who they are victims of the persecution of the government of Daniel Ortega“said Jagger, president of the foundation for the defense of human rights that bears his name.

The bishops of the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council (CELAM) expressed their solidarity with Álvarez. But the Vatican remained silent and Pope Francis refrained from mentioning the issue in Sunday’s homily.

Jagger, once a defender of the Sandinista revolution but now cconsiders Ortega a “dictator”he stressed that the situation is “very serious”.

Repression

To Alvarez “they locked him up with the police and riot policethey do not allow him to go out, they do not allow anyone to enter to bring him food, drink, water and medicine “, he said, adding that one of the priests of the curia house is also ill.

Jagger said he fears Alvarez be forced into exileas happened in 2019 with the auxiliary bishop of Managua, Silvio Báez, critic of Ortega.

The Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh) also expressed concern over the situation of Bishop Rolando Álvarez on Tuesday. “Another day of imminent risk for Monsignor Rolando Álvarez and the people who accompany him in the episcopal curia, another day of danger of losing his life, security, freedom and personal integrity,” Cenidh said in a statement.

The Cenidh specified that the bishop and his companions are also the subject of “a series of information disseminated to public opinion, denials, repeatedly reiterated that are practically causing a general uproar of the population, a state of mass anxiety and hysteria“.

“We denounce these crimes to the world, we denounce Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo (respectively president and vice president) to the world. What else can be done in Nicaragua? (…) Generating fake news appears to be the regime’s new weapon of mental destruction, “added Cenidh, who described the action as” torture “.

Relations between the Catholic Church and the Nicaraguan government are strained by the 2018 opposition protests.

Ortega, in power since 2007, accused the Church of admitting protesters They used the temples as “barracks”.

The president attributed the protests to a failed Washington-sponsored coup, of which he said the bishops were complicit.

Source: AFP

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