Bishop of Nicaragua Rolando Álvarez turns 58 and continues making trouble in exile

Mons. Rolando Álvarez Lagos, Bishop of Matagalpa and Apostolic Administrator of Estelí (Nicaragua), turns 58 this November 27. Many remember him and pray for him, after being exiled to Rome in January of this year.

“Since exile, the Bishop has not mentioned a word, yet the echo of his silence has not let the Ortega-Murillo regime rest,” he states in his count of Martha Patricia Molina, author of the report Nicaragua: A persecuted Church? which accounts for 870 attacks by the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo against the Catholic Church, from 2018 to 2024.

“Today the Bishop is silent, but I do not doubt that in his prayers he always asks for peace in Nicaragua. Speaking or remaining silent, Álvarez continues ‘making a mess,'” adds the Nicaraguan lawyer, also in exile.

Medardo Mairena, a peasant leader exiled in the United States, who refused to falsely accuse the bishops of Nicaragua, for which he was imprisoned and tortured, also wished Bishop Rolando Álvarez a happy birthday.

“We greatly appreciate and appreciate your testimony and your closeness to the Nicaraguan people, particularly the poorest and most vulnerable in our society. May the divine light always guide your path and may our Lord Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin continue to bless you with health, strength and wisdom,” Mairena wrote in her count ofhoping that “soon, very soon, he can be among us, singing, dancing and preaching the Good News once again.”

“We congratulate Monsignor Rolando Álvarez for his courage and unwavering faith. Despite injustice and exile, he remains a beacon of hope for Nicaragua. God bless you always! wrote in X also the activist Ronmell López.

Who is Bishop Rolando Álvarez?

Bishop Rolando José Álvarez Lagos, 57, was appointed Bishop of Matagalpa in 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI. His firm defense of human rights against the regime’s abuses—especially during the civil demonstrations of 2018—earned him persecution by dictator Daniel Ortega.

Bishop Álvarez was forced to remain confined inside his episcopal house since the beginning of August 2022, along with priests, seminarians and a layman.

Two weeks later, when they had almost run out of food, the police broke into the house and kidnapped Mons. Álvarez to Managua, the country’s capital.

In the midst of a questioned process, the dictatorship sentenced him on February 10, 2023 to 26 years and four months in prison, accusing him of “traitor to the country.” Since then, he was held in La Modelo prison, where political prisoners are sent.

One day before being sentenced, Bishop Álvarez had refused to get on a plane on which the dictatorship deported more than 200 political prisoners to the United States.

The Nicaraguan prelate was finally deported to Rome on January 14, 2024, after mediation by the Vatican, along with the Bishop of Siuna, Mons. Isidoro Mora – who before being bishop worked in the diocese of Matagalpa – and other priests and seminarians.

In September the Vatican reported that Bishop Rolando Álvarez had been appointed by Pope Francis to participate in the Synod of Synodality, the second session of which will be held in the Vatican from October 2 to 27.