COMECE demands release of bishop and other detainees in Nicaragua

Arrest of Bishop Alvarez. Image CSW

Source: COMECE

The President of COMECE, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich SJ has expressed the solidarity of the EU Bishops to the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, in a letter addressed to Bishop Carlos Enrique Herrera Gutiérrez OFM, President of the Bishops' Conference of Nicaragua.

Since August 2022, Bishop Rolando Álvarez and several clerics and lay faithful in Nicaragua have been in detention and are facing criminal prosecution, falsely accused of conspiracy and spreading fake news.

Cardinal Hollerich has called on the Nicaraguan national authorities to immediately release Bishop Álvarez and the other detainees. He writes: "We are closely following the development of the situation in Nicaragua, marked by the persecution of the Catholic Church and its faithful. As Bishops of COMECE we are committed to promote freedom, democracy and justice in Nicaragua through our regular dialogue with the representatives of the EU institutions".

In 2022, the national government expelled the Apostolic Nuncio HE Mgr Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag and 18 nuns of the Order of Missionaries of Charity. It also imprisoned seven priests and two members of staff in the diocese of Matagalpa, closed nine Catholic radio stations, withdrew three Catholic channels from subscription television programming and prevented processions and pilgrimages.

Read the full letter HERE