ROME — Pope Francis voiced his “sadness” Sunday over the imprisonment of Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando Álvarez, who has been sentenced to 26 years of jail time by the regime of dictator Daniel Ortega.
“The news from Nicaragua has saddened me a great deal, and I cannot but remember with concern Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa, whom I care about greatly, sentenced to 26 years imprisonment, and also those who have been deported to the United States,” the pontiff told the faithful gathered in Saint Peter’s Square for his weekly Angelus address.
On Friday, the Ortega government found the 57-year-old Bishop Álvarez guilty of treason against the homeland, undermining national integrity, and spreading fake news, stripping him of his Nicaraguan citizenship.
Álvarez was found guilty of crimes against laws approved by the National Assembly in 2021 as a juridical framework to accuse and sentence political dissidents who have stood up to the Ortega regime.
File/Nuns attend a Mass at the Cathedral in Matagalpa, Nicaragua, Friday, Aug. 19, 2022. Nicaraguan police on Friday raided the residence of Matagalpa Bishop Rolando Alvarez, detaining him and several other priests in an escalation of tensions between the Catholic Church and the government of Daniel Oretga. (AP Photo/Inti Ocon)
On Thursday, the bishop refused to leave Nicaragua with 222 political prisoners who were also stripped of their citizenship and deported to Washington D.C. “Let them go free, I will pay their sentence,” Álvarez said.
In his words Sunday, Pope Francis pledged prayers for Álvarez and the deportees, while refraining from criticizing the left-wing Ortega dictatorship.
“I pray for them and for all those who are suffering in that dear nation, and I ask for your prayers,” Francis said.
“Let us also ask the Lord, by the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, to open the hearts of political leaders and all citizens to the sincere search for peace, which is born of truth, justice, freedom and love, and which is achieved through the patient pursuit of dialogue,” he said, before leading the crowd in the prayer of the Hail Mary.