Nicaragua frees imprisoned bishop and other clerics and hands them over to the Vatican

Nicaraguan authorities said Sunday they had released 19 jailed clerics and handed them over to the Vatican, the latest development in the autocratic government's long-running persecution of the Roman Catholic Church.

Among those released was Bishop Rolando Álvarez, one of the most prominent critics of the government in Nicaragua, who was convicted of treason last February and sentenced to 26 years in prison. Another bishop, Isidoro Mora, fifteen priests and two seminarians were also released.

Silvio Báez, a Nicaraguan bishop in exile in the United States, celebrated the news at a Sunday Mass in Miami on Sunday, saying that “the criminal Sandinista dictatorship” of President Daniel Ortega “has not been able to overcome the power of God.”

The release came after Pope Francis drew attention to the attacks on the church in his New Year's address, telling the faithful in St. Peter's Square that he was “following with concern what is happening in Nicaragua, where bishops and priests have been deprived of their freedom.”

In a statement, the Nicaraguan government expressed its gratitude to Pope Francis “for the very respectful and discreet coordination that was carried out” to send the 19 clergy to the Vatican.

In recent years, Mr. Ortega has jailed or forced into exile virtually every opposition leader and dissident who posed a credible challenge to his rule. The campaign ultimately targeted the Roman Catholic Church, whose leaders continued to speak out against the government's abuses.

Martha Patricia Molina, a researcher who has tracked attacks on clergy in Nicaragua, said she has documented at least 782 acts of aggression against the Catholic Church since 2018, including priests being tied up and physically attacked by paramilitaries.

Vatican news reported on On January 1, he reported that at least fourteen priests, two seminarians and a bishop had recently been arrested in Nicaragua. Many of the recent arrests came after priests publicly prayed for Bishop Álvarez, Ms. Molina said.

In October, the Nicaraguan government sent to the Vatican twelve clerics who had recently been released from prison.

Ms. Molina said it was good news that the clerics had been released, noting that torture has been documented in Nicaraguan prisons. But she condemned the government for forcing religious leaders to leave their own countries.

“In this group there are many older priests, and exile is a very painful thing that they will have to deal with,” Ms. Molina said.

Bishop Álvarez, who was arrested in August 2022, rose to prominence as a staunch critic of Mr Ortega in 2018, when the government's crackdown on nationwide demonstrations led to the deaths of more than 300 people. He used the pulpit of Matagalpa Cathedral to demand the release of political prisoners and justice for the families of protesters killed by police.

Alfonso Flores Bermudez And Frances Robles reporting contributed.