The Archbishop of Oviedo (Spain), Bishop Jesús Sanz Montes, personally presented the bishop of Nicaragua exiled in Rome since January, Bishop Rolando Álvarez, the award that he received in his name a few days ago.
On May 29, Bishop Sanz received, on behalf of Bishop Álvarez, the International Libertas Award in the city of Oviedo. And now, according to the website of the Spanish archdiocese, the archbishop was able to personally give the award to the Bishop of Matagalpa and Apostolic Administrator of Estelí (Nicaragua).
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When asked in May what message he would give to Nicaraguans suffering persecution from the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and his wife and vice president, Rosario Murillo, Archbishop Sanz responded: “All our encouragement, all our supportive, Christian and never throw in the towel. The example of Monsignor Rolando is a precious incentive to continue in this fight in the name of Christ, the Gospel and the freedom of a people.”
The note from the archdiocese of Oviedo, published on June 7, reports that Bishop Rolando Álvarez “has visited our diocese this week. The purpose of the visit, which was private and lasted three days, was to collect the aforementioned award.
“During his stay, Bishop Álvarez Lagos visited the Archbishop’s Palace of Oviedo and the Sanctuary of Covadonga,” the text states.
A few days ago, the Nicaraguan prelate also visited the Spanish city of Seville, where he was welcomed by the local archbishop, Mons. José Ángel Saiz Meneses; and where he visited the archbishop’s palace, the seminary, the cathedral and the priestly house of the city.
Who is Bishop Rolando Álvarez?
Bishop Rolando 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 capital of the country.
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 has been held in jail. The modelwhere political prisoners are sent.
One day before being sentenced, Bishop Álvarez had refused to get on a plane in which the dictatorship deported more than 200 political prisoners to the United States.
Bishop Rolando Álvarez was finally deported to Rome on January 14, 2024, after mediation by the Vatican, together with the Bishop of Siuna, Bishop Isidoro Mora; other priests and seminarians.
Walter Sánchez Silva
I have been a husband since 2008. My wife and I have three children here and one who went to heaven in 2023, before he was born. Since I joined ACI Prensa in 2005, I have had the opportunity to cover various events of the Catholic Church. Among them, the World Youth Days in Cologne, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro and the apostolic trips of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico and of Pope Francis to South Korea. I have been sent to the Vatican to cover the Family synods, in 2015; of the Amazon, in 2019 and that of Synodality, in 2023. I closely follow the situation of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, which suffers persecution from the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, as well as current ecclesiastical events in the region.