Who is Bishop Rolando Álvarez, the bishop persecuted by the Nicaraguan dictatorship?

The figure of Mons. Rolando Álvarez Lagos has once again been in the news after Pope Francis appointed him synodal father for the second session of the Plenary Assembly of Bishops on Synodality.

The Nicaraguan bishop, exiled since January 2024, has been the main victim of the religious persecution that Daniel Ortega’s dictatorship has carried out against the Catholic Church since 2018.

These are some important data about the life of Mons. Rolando Álvarez Lagos, Bishop of Matagalpa:

1. He was born in a humble home

Rolando José Álvarez Ramos was born on November 27, 1966 in a simple home in Managua. According to the Nicaraguan media Despacho505.comhis father Miguel was a worker who belonged to the Charismatic Renewal, while his mother Angela attended the Neocatechumenal Way and sold a traditional drink based on corn and water.

2. From a young age he faced Sandinismo

On September 13, 1983, the first government of the Sandinista National Liberation Front approved the Patriotic Military Service law to recruit thousands of young people and use them to confront the counterrevolutionaries. The young Rolando Álvarez was already a member of the youth ministry of Managua and expressed his opposition to this order of the regime.

In a 2018 interview with La Prensa —cited by Article66.com—, Mons. Álvarez recalled that his father offered to take him out of the country when there were two days left for the law to come into force. However, the 16-year-old teenager chose to stay in Nicaragua.

Young Rolando refused to do military service and for this reason he was arrested several times. His house was raided and the persecution suffered by his family forced him to take refuge in Guatemala, where he would later be reunited with his relatives.

3. His path to the priesthood and appointment as bishop

In Guatemala, Álvarez completed high school and began his studies in Philosophy at the Nuestra Señora de la Asunción National Major Seminary in Guatemala City. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in Theology from the Pontifical Lateran University of Rome and a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from the Pontifical Gregorian University.

Meanwhile, Daniel Ortega’s first Sandinista government ended in February 1990.

And on December 7, 1994, in the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of Mary of the Archdiocese of Managua, Rolando Álvarez was ordained a priest at the age of 28.

Likewise, he worked as a professor and prefect at the Managua seminary between 1994 and 2006, and directed the Nicaraguan Catholic Radio since 2001.

In March 2011, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Bishop of Matagalpa and in July 2021, Pope Francis entrusted him with the apostolic administration of the Diocese of Estelí.

4. The attacks of the Sandinista regime begin

In 2007, Daniel Ortega returned to power and, although at first it seemed that relations with the Church had improved, two years later tensions returned, especially due to the bishops’ criticism of the continuous re-elections of the Sandinista leader to maintain control of the country. .

However, the situation worsened starting in April 2018 with demonstrations against the pension and health reform. During the repressions, which lasted several months, government agents They attacked a church where a group of young people had taken refuge.

To get out of the crisis, the Catholic Church tried to mediate between the government and the opposition at a dialogue table. Among the representatives of the bishops was Mons. Álvarez. However, it did not work and the crisis continued for more months.

In the case of Matagalpa, Mons. Álvarez denounced in June of that year the attack on the pastoral center of the Cartuja. Furthermore, in September a group of regime sympathizers insulted him by calling him a “terrorist” and “murderer.” when his car was stopped by a group of police officers on a highway.

In addition, in July 2019 The bishop said that during his pastoral visit to the community of La Joya he was warned by the farmers that some armed men were watching him.

Despite the harassment, the prelate continued with his pastoral work and in February 2020 published an ethical decalogue for politicians facing the elections on November 7 of the following year.

In June 2021 He called for tolerance, because “Nicaragua is experiencing serious and complex conflicts.” By then, Nicaraguan police had confined three presidential candidates to their homes and the main opposition candidate, Cristina Chamorro, was under house arrest.

5. The kidnapping and imprisonment of Bishop Rolando Álvarez

By 2022, the situation of the Bishop of Matagalpa was more difficult under Daniel Ortega’s regime.

In mid-May 2022, the prelate started a hunger strike because police harassment was also affecting his family. He indicated that he would maintain this measure until the privacy of his family circle was respected.

On August 4, Bishop Álvarez Lagos left his house with the Blessed Sacrament in hand to denounce that the police were not allowing their priests and collaborators to enter to celebrate mass in the bishopric chapel.

After almost an hour of calling for dialogue and respect for the Church, the bishop reentered and celebrated the Eucharist with his collaborators. However, riot police blocked the door and held them captive until August 19.

That morningthe police broke into the episcopal headquarters and took Mons. Álvarez, along with the priests, seminarians and the layman who accompanied him. The bishop was transferred to Managua.

Despite the concerns expressed by the Episcopate and Pope Francis, during the following months the prelate continued under pressure from the regime, which on February 10, 2023 sentenced him to 26 years and 4 months in prison, accusing him of “treason to the country.” ” and stripping him of Nicaraguan citizenship.

The sentence was imposed a day after 222 political prisoners, including several priests, were deported to the United States. The bishop had refused to be part of that group and get on the plane.

The sentence against the prelate was condemned by bishops and international organizations. For his part, Pope Francis stated on February 12 his concern for Bishop Rolando Álvarez, “whom I love so much.”

While the Bishop of Matagalpa was imprisoned, the Vatican embassy was closed in Nicaragua on March 17 at the request of the Ortega government after the Pope compare in an interview to the Sandinista regime with “the communist dictatorship of 1917 or the Hitler dictatorship of 1935.”

6. The exile to Rome and his participation in the Synod

During the following months, Daniel Ortega’s dictatorship continued to pressure the Catholic Church, closing institutions and imprisoning more priests, even prohibiting requests for prayers for Mons. Álvarez Lagos, as he stated researcher Martha Patricia Molina told ACI Prensa.

Finally, on January 14, 2024, local media reported that Bishop Rolando Álvarez had been deported to the Vaticanalong with 15 priests and 2 seminarians, and the Bishop of Siuna, Mons. Isidoro Mora.

Mons. Mora had been detained since December 20, 2023. A day before, he had asked during a mass to pray for the Bishop of Matagalpa.

According to the Sandinista regime, the release of the religious was after the “very respectful and discreet coordination carried out” with the Holy See.

During his exile, the Nicaraguan bishop was recognized with the Libertas Awards of the Principality of Asturias 2024 for his commitment to the defense and freedom of the people of Nicaragua.

For its part, the Vatican reported on September 16 that Mons. Rolando Álvarez will participate in the Synod of Synodality, whose second session will begin on October 2.

The name of the Nicaraguan bishop appears on the list of people directly appointed by Pope Francis.