Nicaragua Archives - Catholic Herald

Nicaragua

Pope’s ‘foreign policy’ Easter message: What got included, what got left out

March 31, 2024

ROME – A pope’s Easter Sunday Urbi et Orbi blessing, meaning “to the city and the world,” is generally understood to be one of his premier foreign policy statements of the year, a sort of 365-degree review of the global situation. Which issues and hotspots a pontiff chooses to highlight, therefore – and, equally, which he chooses

Record number of Catholic priests arrested, abducted or murdered in 2023

January 18, 2024

Last year 132 priests and religious were arrested, abducted or killed globally, according to latest research. Belarus, China, Nicaragua and Nigeria were identified as the countries where clergy were most under threat. The total figure – up eight on 2022 – only covers confirmed cases , notes Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), which conducted the

Prayers answered: Nicaraguan bishop imprisoned for life gains freedom, though exiled to Vatican

January 15, 2024

Nicaragua has released a bishop jailed for 26 years after he stood up to the regime of President Daniel Ortega. Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa was sent into exile at the Vatican along with Bishop Isidoro del Carmen Mora Ortega of Siuna and 15 priests and two seminarians. The ejection of Bishop Álvarez comes almost

‘Deteriorating situation’: Persecution of Catholic Church in Nicaragua

January 04, 2024

NEW YORK – Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami has said Nicaragua’s dictatorship has gone “off the rails” with the latest round of arrests of Catholic leaders in Nicaragua and the continued imprisonment of Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa. “It’s a deteriorating situation where the government is persecuting the church, and it’s hard to see what

Jesuits blast seizure of university in Nicaragua over ‘terrorism’ charge

August 18, 2023

ROME – On Wednesday the Jesuit-run University of Central America (UCA) in Nicaragua issued a statement condemning a government decree confiscating all of its properties and assets and calling it a “center of terrorism”, saying the allegations are baseless and violate academic freedom. In an August 16 statement, the Central American province of the Society

Bishop Alvarez sent back to jail in Nicaragua

July 10, 2023

Nicaraguan authorities have returned a Catholic bishop to jail after he refused to go into exile in Italy. Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa was sent back the Jorge Navarro de Tipitapa National Penitentiary System, a notorious prison known as “La Modelo”, after negotiations with government officials broke down. The hard-left dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega

Jailed Nicaraguan bishop appears in video staged by regime

March 29, 2023

The Nicaraguan regime has responded to calls for proof that a jailed bishop is still alive by releasing photographs and a film of him being visited by his family in prison. The images and short video of Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa came a week after human rights defender Bianca Jagger demanded that Nicaraguan despot

Pope Francis prays for Nicaraguan bishop imprisoned for 26 years for trumped-up treason charges

February 13, 2023

Pope Francis has expressed his grief at the jailing of a Nicaraguan Catholic bishop for 26 years on trumped-up charges of treason. The Pontiff prayed for Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa during the Sunday Angelus in Rome. The bishop was summarily imprisoned for 26 years last week after he refused to follow 222 other Nicaraguan