Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, the bishop of the diocese of Matagalpa, said that he believed “our peace is the will of the Lord” in his public interview — nearly a year after Nicaragua’s communist dictator Daniel Ortega banished him from his country.
Álvarez, an outspoken critic of Ortega and his communist regime, was banished to the Vatican in January 2024 after spending over 500 days in prison on “treason” charges. In 2023, the Ortega regime sentenced Álvarez to 26 years in prison and stripped him of his Nicaraguan nationality, rendering the Catholic bishop a stateless person in clear violation of international law.
The clergyman’s “treason” sentence and subsequent banishment from his country are part of a larger, relentless persecution of Christianity in Nicaragua as punishment for the Catholic Church’s support for the pro-democracy and anti-communist wave of protests in 2018.
The exiled bishop spoke to the Spanish newspaper La Tribuna de Albacete on Sunday while visiting the eponymous Spanish city as part of a broader pastoral visit on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Matagalpa diocese in December 1924. The priest said that he has asked nothing more than “to do the will of the Lord” in 2025.
Álvarez visited seminarians and priests from his diocese exiled in Greece and in the Spanish cities of Toledo, Seville, and Valencia before visiting Albacete. He said in the interview that Albacete has welcomed priests from his diocese to study at the Catholic University of Valencia.
“For me, this is the main pastoral task, even before any other preferential option. They are my sons, my brothers, my friends, and my closest collaborators in the apostolic and evangelizing mission that the Lord has entrusted to me,” Álvarez said.
“Without priests, I would not be able to work. For this reason, I dedicate all the necessary time to them and to the seminarians, who represent the future of the clergy,” he continued.
Asked how the Nicaraguan Catholic church is experiencing the situation in Nicaragua, the bishop responded by referring to a letter sent by Pope Francis to the Nicaraguan faithful in December — and which he read an excerpt from during a Mass he held in Seville, Spain, to commemorate the Matagalpa diocese’s 100th anniversary.
“In it, the Pope uses a close language and encourages us saying: ‘Do not forget the loving providence of the Lord, who accompanies us and is the only sure guide,” Álvarez said.
“Precisely in the most difficult moments, when it seems humanly impossible to understand what God wants of us, we are called not to doubt his care and mercy,” he continued.
Álvarez further referenced Pope Francis’s letter when inquired on how he deals with the difficult situation of the persecution of Christianity in Nicaragua.
“Be certain that faith and hope work miracles. Let us look to the Immaculate Virgin; she is the luminous witness of this confidence. You have always experienced her maternal protection in all your needs and have shown your gratitude with a very beautiful and spiritually rich religiosity,” Álvarez, quoting Pope Francis’ letter, said in response.
“For this reason, we always welcome La Purisima, who is the patroness of Nicaragua,” he continued.
Álvarez sent a message to the youth, encouraging them to be “courageous, creative and innovative,” and to not be afraid and “keep up the energy needed to transform the world into a better place for all.” The priest also invited the youth to look to the Holy Family, Jesus, Mary and Joseph as examples.
“St. Joseph, as a just man, gives us an example of courage and trust in Providence. In the letter Patris Corde, Pope Francis reflects that, in every circumstance of his life, Joseph knew how to pronounce his “yes”, like Mary at the Annunciation and Jesus in Gethsemane,” Álvarez said.
“The Gospel teaches us that God always succeeds in saving what is important, but on condition that we have the creative courage of Joseph, who knew how to transform a problem into an opportunity, always trusting in Providence,” he continued.
Lastly, Bishop Álvarez said that he is only interested in “doing what the Lord wants,” and that he asked the Holy Spirit for “discernment to discover the voice of the Lord within me, in the signs of the times and in the events of history.”
“Also in every encounter with others, looking into each other’s eyes without fear, without humiliation or strangeness, so that the divine will may be born in us,” Álvarez concluded.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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