WASHINGTON (CNS)—Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando José Álvarez offered a message of affection to the world August 7 at the same time as he continued to be detained by police inside a church constructing in Matagalpa.
“Now we have to reply to hate with love, despair with hope, and fear with the strength and courage given to us by the fantastic and resurrected Christ,” the 55-year-old prelate said in a video posted on various social media platforms.
The bishop, together with a gaggle of priests and lay Catholics, has been prevented from leaving the constructing since August 4. A couple of days before his detention, several Catholic radio stations under the auspices of the Diocese of Matagalpa were shuttered by the federal government.
“Now we have to reply to hate with love, despair with hope, and fear with the strength and courage given to us by the fantastic and resurrected Christ.”
The bishop has been openly critical of the federal government of Sandinista President Daniel Ortega due to its repression of the Nicaraguan populace and violation of human rights. The federal government has expelled Catholics from the country, including an order of nuns in July, and the Vatican’s ambassador, often known as the nuncio, in March.
After Bishop Álvarez publicly objected to the closing of the radio stations, he soon after found the doorway to the local curia blocked by police, though he was not charged with a criminal offense.
Late August 5, nevertheless, Nicaragua’s national police announced an investigation that included the bishops, saying violent groups were organizing to “perform acts of hatred against the population, causing an environment of tension and disorder, disturbing the peace and harmony in the neighborhood, with the aim of destabilizing the state of Nicaragua and attack constitutional authorities.”
Bishop Álvarez has been openly critical of the federal government of Sandinista President Daniel Ortega due to its repression of the Nicaraguan populace and violation of human rights.
“I’m being investigated. That’s tremendous, but I don’t know why,” the bishop said within the video released August 7.
And regardless that he and his companions are under what amounts to deal with arrest, he said they’ve the strength and peace that only the resurrected Christ can provide.
“Now we have the enjoyment of the one who tells us, ‘Courage, don’t be afraid,’” he said. “Remember, beloved brothers and sisters, fear paralyzes.”
In a separate video, also released August 7, he appears singing “El Amigo” to law enforcement officials in riot gear detaining the group and blessing them. The song, popular in Latin America, is about a very good friend. You’ll be able to hear the voices of those detained with him joining within the singing, which incorporates the lyrics: “In certain difficult moments in life, we’re in search of someone to assist us find the way in which out.”
“Now we have the enjoyment of the one who tells us, ‘Courage, don’t be afraid.’ Remember, beloved brothers and sisters, fear paralyzes.”
Many worry that after Nicaraguan authorities said they were investigating him for inciting violence, the federal government might be planning to send him to a jail for dissenters. In 2019, Auxiliary Bishop Silvio José Báez of Managua, who also had been critical of the federal government and received death threats, left the country. He later said Pope Francis had asked him to go away; the bishop said the pope told him, “I don’t want one other bishop martyr in Central America.”
Though Bishop Álvarez seems to count on international support, social media also has been propagated with videos showing the bishop’s face within the crosshairs and the words “asesino” or assassin, followed by Nicaraguan Vice President Rosario Murillo saying that those that are bitter “disappear.”
Pope Francis: “I don’t want one other bishop martyr in Central America.”
On August 7, Nicaraguan Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes read an announcement from the country’s bishops saying they were in communion with their detained brother bishop.
“This example touches our hearts as bishops and because the Nicaraguan church,” Cardinal Brenes said, adding a phrase from the primary letter to the Corinthians: “If (one) part (of the body) suffers, all of the parts suffer with it.”
The Latin American bishops’ council, often known as CELAM, expressed solidarity with Bishop Álvarez, as have individual bishops’ conferences from Central America.
A company of agricultural Nicaraguan employees also posted a tribute of photos of the bishop during his ministry together with his rural flock, with the song “El Amigo” playing within the background.
