Nicaraguan judicial authorities accuse D. Rolando Alvarez of the crime of conspiracy to commit a crime «for attempting against national integrity». The trial of the bishop of Matagalpa, who has been under house arrest since August 19, will begin on January 10 of next year, date on which the first preliminary hearing is scheduled.
According to information released by the Press and Public Relations Office of the Central Judicial Complex of Managua, «a defense lawyer» has been appointed for the prelate. Rolando is also accused of «spreading false news through information and communication technologies to the detriment of the State and Nicaraguan society».
The press release, dated December 13, also mentions that Father Uriel Antonio Vallejos was considered a «fugitive from justice» and that «the judicial authority sent a letter to INTERPOL for his arrest».
The arrest of the prelate, now confirmed by the Court, took place in the early hours of August 19 and was one of the most striking moments of recent times of the authorities’ repression of the Nicaraguan Christian community, but not the only one.
Before the bishop was placed under house arrest, the government of Daniel Ortega expelled the Apostolic Nuncio, Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag, forced the Missionaries of Charity, the congregation founded by St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, as well as other religious and priests to leave the country. It also led to the closure of the Bishops’ Conference television channel and six other Catholic radio stations.
Recently, in November, the updated edition of the report «Nicaragua: persecuted Church?» was published by lawyer and researcher Martha Patricia Molina. According to that report, in the period between April 2018 and October of this year there were 396 attacks against the Catholic Church in this South American country. This means an increase of 206 incidents compared to the first report, published in May of this year.
Among the nearly 400 documented episodes, there are allegations of desecration, theft, threats and hate speech. During this period, the authorities attacked several bishops, priests, nuns and lay people.
Martha Molina’s report, to which the AIS Foundation had access, states that in the period under analysis there were at least 396 attacks against the Catholic Church, of which 127 were registered this year. Just as a point of comparison, last year there were 54 incidents involving the Church in some way in Nicaragua. The climate of persecution and human rights abuses has already caused more than 150,000 people to flee. They are refugees and are mostly in neighboring Costa Rica.
«In the framework of state repression of social protests, at least 355 people died; more than 2,000 people were injured; more than 1,614 people were detained; hundreds of health professionals were arbitrarily dismissed; more than 150 university students were unjustifiably expelled; and more than 150,000 people were forced to flee the country and seek international protection in Costa Rica, according to UNHCR data», the Report reads.
Martha Molina’s work provides a detailed portrait of the state Nicaragua has reached in the face of the systematic abuse of human rights. «Today students, peasants, doctors, teachers, priests, nuns, seminarians, journalists, lawyers, lay members of the Catholic Church and human rights defenders are criminalized by the country’s justice system and, as a result, as of the date of publication of this study, there are 2194 political prisoners and thousands of citizens forced into exile».
The arrest of Mr. Rolando Alvarez has already provoked numerous reactions. From Pope Francis, to the Episcopal Conferences of Cuba, Italy and Brazil, to the Secretary General of the UN and the European Parliament, many voices have already been raised in defense of the Bishop and in repudiation of the situation in which he finds himself.
The ISA Foundation has also publicly expressed its repudiation of the way in which the Nicaraguan authorities are acting. Regina Lynch, director of international projects of the ISA Foundation, said, shortly after the arrest of Bishop Rolando, that there was an «attempt to silence the Church in Nicaragua». She added that there is no easy solution to this situation. «We need to support them as much as possible. We need to pray that there can be a peaceful solution and not a further escalation of hostilities,» added the head of Aid to the Church in Need.
The AIS Foundation is very close not only to the Nicaraguan Church but also to the Bishop of Matagalpa, who is now under arrest.
Proof of this, during his last visit to the international headquarters of ACN, in 2019, Monsignor Alvarez, highlighted when referring to the joint work that has been carried out for several years with the support of the pontifical foundation and thanking the help of the benefactors of the institution spread throughout the four corners of the world.
«We are all like the poor widow, both those who have a lot in economic terms and those who have very little. The secret is, as St. Teresa of Calcutta said, ‘give until it hurts’. And, therefore, I say to the benefactors of the AIS Foundation, please continue without fear, as you have been doing, giving until it hurts, giving what you need to live, because in this way you are giving life to others,» said the bishop during his visit to ACN’s international headquarters.