CHARLOTTE — Clergy and faithful in Charlotte reacted with joy Sunday to the news that two Nicaraguan bishops have been released from a political prison and are safe in Rome.
Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa and Bishop Isidoro Mora of Siuna were among 19 political prisoners deported from Nicaragua on Sunday.
Two of their priests who were similarly exiled last year – Father Ramiro Tijerino and Father Oscar Benavides – are now ministering at several parishes in the Diocese of Charlotte. During Mass on Sunday, Father Tijerino happily shared the breaking news of the bishops’ release.
“I join the joy of many Nicaraguans and the priests who were freed,” Father Benavides told the Catholic News Herald on Tuesday. “But, at the same time, I ask that we continue prayers for Nicaragua.”
Father Tijerino and Father Benavides were arbitrarily jailed for several months before being suddenly deported to the United States in February 2023. They are among more than 200 Catholic clergy and religious recently forced out of Nicaragua by its president Daniel Ortega. Bishop Álvarez was supposed to be deported with them, but at the last minute he refused to board the plane and was subsequently sentenced to 26 years’ imprisonment in a notorious political prison in Managua. Bishop Mora was arrested last month for saying at Mass that he was praying for Bishop Álvarez.
Since coming to Charlotte in February 2023, Father Tijerino and Father Benavides have been calling for peace in Nicaragua and encouraging people to pray for the release of the bishops and other political prisoners.
On Sunday afternoon, the Vatican and the Nicaraguan government announced the release of the two bishops, 15 priests and two seminarians.
Tijerino
BenavidesMoments later, Father Tijerino was entering Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Charlotte to celebrate Mass when he heard the news. He rushed over to tell Sister Joan Pearson, who was in attendance at the Mass and works with the Charlotte diocese’s Hispanic priests. She has played a key role in helping the two Nicaraguan priests settle in Charlotte after Bishop Peter Jugis offered them sanctuary.
“He was so excited. He hugged me and said, ‘They are in Rome. They just arrived. They are safe!’” Sister Joan recounted late Sunday. “You could just see the joy in him.”
During the intercessory prayers at the Mass, Father Tijerino shared the news with the entire congregation and gave thanks to God. He also thanked everyone who prayed and negotiated for the churchmen’s safe release.
After Mass, parishioners rallied around Father Tijerino, Sister Joan in tears.
“I am so happy,” Sister Joan said later Sunday evening. “This has been our prayer, that the bishop, and the priests and the seminarians would be released…and now they have!”
— Catholic News Herald
Pictured at top: Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa walks outside a Catholic church in Managua May 20, 2022. After more than 500 days' detention, the Ortega regime released the prelate, who has been the Nicaraguan government's most prominent critic, from prison Jan. 14, and sent into exile along with 18 other imprisoned churchmen. Bishop Álvarez safely landed in Rome Jan. 14, the Vatican confirmed. (OSV News | Maynor Valenzuela, Reuters)
Bishop Rolando Álvarez released, exiled from Nicaragua after over 500 days of detention
MEXICO CITY — Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa has been released from prison and sent into exile along with 18 imprisoned churchmen as the Nicaraguan government expelled its most prominent critic, whose presence behind bars bore witness to the Sandinista regime descent into totalitarianism, along with its persecution of the Catholic Church.
Vatican News confirmed Jan. 14 at 10:41 p.m. Rome time that with the exception of one priest who remained in Venezuela, all released priests, including Bishop Álvarez and Bishop Isidoro Mora of Siuna, have arrived in Rome “in the last few hours” and are “guests of the Holy See.”
Nicaraguan independent media 100% Noticias posted a photograph on X, formerly Twitter, of the two freed bishops concelebrating Mass in Rome.
Independent Nicaraguan media reported Jan. 14 that the churchmen had departed Nicaragua on a flight for Rome after the government reached an agreement with the Vatican for their release and exile. Auxiliary Bishop Silvio José Báez of Managua – who left the country in 2019 – also confirmed the news at his weekly Mass in Miami, and was visibly moved.
“This is the power of the people of God's prayers,” he said. “The criminal Sandinista dictatorship of (President) Daniel Ortega has not been able to defeat the power of God.”
The Nicaraguan government acknowledged the churchmen’s release in a Jan. 14 statement, which “deeply thanked” Pope Francis and Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, “for the very respectful and discreet coordination carried out to make possible the Vatican trip of two bishops, fifteen priests and two seminarians.”
The statement continued, “They have been received by Vatican authorities, in compliance with agreements of good faith and good will, which seek to promote understanding and improve communication between the Holy See and Nicaragua, for peace and good.”
The statement struck an unusually respectful tone – far from the government's frequent accusations of terrorism and coup mongering against Church leaders, who attempted to unsuccessfully facilitate a national dialogue after mass protests erupted demanding Ortega’s ouster. The Nicaraguan government also severed relations with the Vatican and expelled the nuncio, Archbishop Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag, in 2022. The Vatican subsequently closed its embassy in March 2023.
“We recognize the chance for direct, prudent and very serious dialogue, a responsible and careful dialogue,” the government statement said.
The release of 19 churchmen – including Bishop Mora and more than a dozen priests detained during a wave of detentions over the Christmas period – provoked reactions of joy among Nicaraguans in exile, along with statements of defiance.
“’Get up quickly.’ The chains fell from his wrists,” Bishop Báez said on X, formerly Twitter, quoting Acts 12:7, which recounts St. Peter’s miraculous release from prison.
“With great joy, I thank God that my brother bishops, priests, and seminarians are out of prison. Justice has triumphed. The power of the prayer of God's people has been displayed.”
Ambassador Brian A. Nichols, assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs in the U.S. Department of State, said on X that the regime “expelled 19 unjustly detained Catholic clergy, including Bishop Álvarez.”
“We are reassured to see the release of these religious leaders. All people have the right to worship at home and abroad. We continue to call for the release of all those unjustly detained and the restoration of the fundamental freedoms of the Nicaraguan people,” Nichols emphasized.
Bishop Álvarez has become the face of resistance in Nicaragua, raising his voice against the increasing intolerance of the Sandinista regime – which has subdued the business community, forced the free press out of the country and attempted to control the Catholic Church.
The bishop spent more than 500 days in custody after police arrested him in August 2022 during a pre-dawn raid on his diocesan curia, where he had been holed up protesting the seizure of Catholic media outlets. In February 2023, he was sentenced to 26 years in prison on charges of conspiracy and spreading false information – one day after he refused to leave the country.
Bishop Álvarez refused subsequent attempts at exiling him – as expulsion or refusing priests reentry to the country after traveling abroad became a common tactic.
“The dictatorship feels safer or more comfortable with religious people outside the country than inside the country,” Arturo McFields Yescas, a former Nicaraguan diplomat in exile, told OSV News.
“When they are inside (the country) they consider them a threat, a danger, a counterweight to their official narrative. And when they are outside, (the regime) feels that they no longer have that critical voice, or that voice of truth, which spoke to the people and people listened to,” he said.
— David Agren, OSV News