At dawn on January 14, a plane left Managua for its final destination Rome, transporting into exile the Bishop of Matagalpa and political prisoner of the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, Monsignor Rolando Álvarez. In addition to the prelate, the Bishop of Siuna, Isidoro Mora Ortega, and 17 priests and seminarians from Nicaragua who were arrested during a police hunt during the last Christmas and New Year holidays were also expelled.
Minutes before Bishop Silvio Báez – who has been forcibly exiled in the United States since 2019 – began his Sunday Mass at Santa Agatha Parish in Miami, news of his companions' exile emerged. Between surprise and caution, Báez avoided referring to the information that Catholic sources had confirmed to EL PAÍS. “Let's hope it comes out first in 19,” apologized the auxiliary bishop of Managua, referring to El 19 Digital, the main propaganda organ of the Ortega and Murillo regimes through which the exile of Nicaraguans is spread.
At the end of his Mass in Miami, while checking his cell phone and maintaining his composure during the homily, Báez announced to his parishioners the exile of the religious and of Bishop Álvarez, the voice that most disturbed the presidential couple in Nicaragua. “The criminal dictatorship of Daniel Ortega could not count on the power of God,” Báez exclaimed excitedly, trying unsuccessfully to hold back his tears. “The kidnapped, unjustly imprisoned and innocent bishops, priests and seminarians landed at the airport in Rome and were received by the Holy See… Therefore I would like to invite you to thank Pope Francis and the diplomacy of the Vatican.”
Nicaraguan Bishop Silvio Báez at his Sunday mass in the parish of Santa Agatha in Miami. Miguel Andres Gutierrez
This Sunday afternoon, the government confirmed the exile of Monsignor Álvarez and the other Catholic religious through a statement in which it referred to “agreements with the Holy See” and to Pope Francis and the Vatican Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, “the very respectful and …” thanked discreet vote carried out.” Earlier in the morning, the relatives of the clergy from Rome were informed of the banishment. Likewise, Catholic sources in the Holy See had confirmed to EL PAÍS that the two bishops, priests and seminarians were received by the Vatican authorities and given the necessary attention so that they could settle in Rome. “They are already in San Pedro’s house,” they assured.
This is the second exile of priests to Rome. The first case occurred in October 2023, when twelve priests were expelled from Nicaragua by plane after reaching “agreements with the Vatican.” In the last 12 months, Pope Francis has twice advocated for opening a dialogue with the Ortega-Murillo regime, while expressing concern about the worsening socio-political crisis suffered by Nicaraguans.
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“The situation in Nicaragua also remains worrying; “It is a crisis that has been going on for a long time and is having painful consequences for the entire Nicaraguan society, especially for the Catholic Church,” the pope said in early 2024.
The exile of Monsignor Álvarez, head of the Diocese of Matagalpa and Estelí, comes after the prelate refused to board the plane in February 2023 that led to the exile of 222 political prisoners to the United States. In retaliation, the Ortega-Murillos sentenced Álvarez to 26 years in prison and locked him in a maximum security cell at La Modelo prison.
The bishop was visibly moved and fighting back tears @silviojbaez announces the banishment of Monsignor Álvarez and the other religious at his Sunday mass in Miami. “The criminal dictatorship of Ortega and Murillo was unable to stop the power of God,” he says after confirming this. pic.twitter.com/nHj7BuA8du
— Wilfredo Miranda Aburto (@PiruloAr) January 14, 2024
In July 2023, “contacts” were established between the regime and the Vatican to release the bishop. However, Álvarez refused the conditions of his imprisonment, which included exile. He was held in prison and presented to the public twice after complaining about the isolation he suffered at La Modelo.
Álvarez's exile represents a relief for the regime from national and international condemnation of his release. According to a CID-Gallup poll, 72% of Nicaraguans opposed the political condemnation of Álvarez. This second exile of religious, however, intensifies the persecution of Catholicism, which has been without its main representatives in this area since this Sunday.
Most of those exiled priests were parish priests and influential voices within a religious institution that has sharply criticized the Ortega-Murillo family's human rights abuses since 2018, when police and paramilitaries brutally broke up social protests. A political violence that has been ongoing for more than five years, with a police state that overlaps with a totalitarian regime in which persecution, prison and exile reign against those who criticize the government.
According to researcher Martha Patricia Molina, the regime has forced 203 religious men and women into exile, expulsion or denied entry to Nicaragua. All between 2018 and January 2024. More than 80% of these attacks were recorded in 2023, when religious persecution reached its peak with the ban on Holy Week rites.