Sandinistas Display Party Flags, Imprison Bishop

In a brazen act of provocation, President Daniel Ortega's dictatorship in Nicaragua has placed the red and black flags of the Sandinista National Liberation Front, the ruling regime's political party, in front of the cathedral in Matagalpa. The regime, led by Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, has been in power since 2007, while the Sandinistas identify as a socialist political party.

Highlights

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
6/28/2023 (10 months ago)

Published in Americas

Keywords: Catholic, Nicaragua, Sandinista, bishop, prison, persecution

The bishop of Matagalpa, Rolando Alvarez, has become a victim of the regime's oppression, having been sentenced to 26 years and four months in prison on charges of treason to the homeland. Martha Patricia Molina, a researcher and author of the report "Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church?", has condemned this act as yet another provocation by the Sandinista dictatorship against the Nicaraguan Catholic Church.

Molina has been outspoken about the persecution faced by the Catholic Church in Nicaragua and has called on the international community to intervene. She highlights the captivity of Bishop Alvarez in one of Nicaragua's jails, where both physical and psychological torture methods are practiced. The dictatorship continues its relentless persecution of the diocese, with acts such as prohibiting a procession for the Divine Child, an event attended by over 20,000 faithful Catholics.

Placing the flags of the ruling party in front of the cathedral is seen as an attempt to demoralize the clergy who constantly pray for their captive bishop. Molina expresses concern about Alvarez's well-being, emphasizing that no one in prison can be doing well, especially considering the lack of information about his physical and mental health since March.

Alvarez's public appearance in a staged lunch at the Modelo prison, orchestrated by the regime, drew criticism from exiled auxiliary bishop of Managua, Silvio Baez, who described it as "disgusting and cynical." Since then, Alvarez has not been seen.

The oppression continues with the recent arrests of three priests: Jaime IvAn Montesinos Sauceda, Eugenio Rodríguez Benavides, and Leonardo Guevara Gutiérrez, the pastor of the cathedral in Esteli. Bishop Alvarez, besides his role in Matagalpa, serves as the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Esteli.

Molina also highlights the restrictions imposed on public recitation of the rosary, allowing it only within church premises and prohibiting the mention of Alvarez's name. Anyone who dares to do so faces immediate imprisonment. She denounces the violation of religious freedom, a constitutional right in Nicaragua, and calls on the international community to cease financing the Ortega dictatorship. Molina urges countries to take effective action, not just condemn the regime in political forums like the OAS and the U.N., as financing only fuels repression.

With an increasing number of priests under constant surveillance by the police and paramilitary groups, the dictatorship intensifies its campaign of repression and persecution against the Catholic Church. Molina laments that the international community's words against Ortega's regime are meaningless if followed by financial support that Nicaraguans ultimately pay for through persecution and criminalization.

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