Pope Francis calls on Nicaragua to ‘open its heart’ over jailing of prominent government critic

Pope Francis has called on politicians in Nicaragua to "open their hearts" over the “concerning” jailing of Bishop Rolando Alvarez, a prominent critic of the increasing authoritarianism of President Daniel Ortega's government, for 26 years.

With Bishop Alvarez having refused to get on a flight to the United States with 222 other political prisoners, all opponents of Mr Ortega, a judge sentenced Alvarez for undermining the government, spreading false information, obstruction of functions and disobedience. It is a trial that has been decried by human rights groups as politically motivated.

"The news that arrived from Nicaragua has saddened me no little," the pontiff told the faithful gathered in St Peter's Square for the traditional Sunday blessing, expressing both his love and concern for Mr Alvarez. "I cannot help but remember with concern the Bishop of Matagalpa, Monsignor Rolando Alvarez, whom I love so much and who has been sentenced to 26 years in prison, and also the people who have been taken to the United States".

Pope Francis called on the faithful to pray for the politicians responsible "to open their hearts".

The sentence handed down by Octavio Ernesto Rothschuh, chief magistrate of the Managua appeals court, is the longest given to any of Mr Ortega's opponents over the last couple years. Alvarez was arrested in August along with several other priests and lay people.

When Mr Ortega ordered the mass release of political leaders, priests, students and activists widely considered political prisoners and had some of them put on a flight to Washington on Thursday, Alvarez refused to board without being able to consult with other bishops, Mr Ortega said.

Bishop Alvarez has been one of the most outspoken religious figures still in Nicaragua as Mr Ortega intensified his repression of the opposition. The church is essentially the last independent institution trusted by a large portion of Nicaraguans, and that makes it a threat to Mr Ortega's increasingly authoritarian rule.

Andrew Chesnut, a professor of religious studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, said Alvarez's sentence "constitutes the most severe repression against the Catholic Church in Latin America since the assassination of Guatemalan Bishop Juan Jose Gerardi in 1998".

"Since first becoming the ruling party in 1979 the Sandinistas have repressed the Catholic Church like few other regimes in Latin America," Mr Chesnut said.

Monsignor Silvio Baez, the former outspoken Managua auxiliary bishop who was recalled to the Vatican in 2019, said on Twitter "the Nicaraguan dictatorship's hatred toward Mons Rolando Alvarez is irrational and out of control".

Bishop Alvarez, of Matagalpa about 80 miles north of Managua, has been a key religious voice in discussions of Nicaragua's future since 2018, when a wave of protests against Mr Ortega's government led to a sweeping crackdown on opponents. When the protests first erupted, Mr Ortega asked the church to serve as mediator in peace talks.

On 20 April, 2018, hundreds of student protesters sought refuge at Managua's cathedral. When police and Sandinista Youth descended, the students retreated inside, leaving only after clergy negotiated their safe passage.

"We hope there would be a series of electoral reforms, structural changes to the electoral authority - free, just and transparent elections, international observation without conditions," Bishop Alvarez said a month after the protests broke out. "Effectively the democratisation of the country."

More recently, Mr Ortega has accused the Church of being part of an alleged foreign-backed plot to depose him.

Judges have also sentenced five other Catholic priests to time in prison. They were all aboard Thursday's flight.

Associated Press