Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
The Associated PressJanuary 16, 2024
Rolando Alvarez, bishop of Matagalpa, gives a press conference regarding the Roman Catholic Church's agreeing to act as "mediator and witness" in a national dialogue between members of civil society and the government in Managua, Nicaragua, May 3, 2018. Nicaragua's government released Alvarez, sentenced to 26 years in prison for conspiracy and other crimes, and sent him on a plane to the Vatican, according to the auxiliary bishop of Managua, Monsignor Silvio Baez, on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo, File)

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Nicaragua’s government released a prominent Catholic bishop and 18 other clergy members imprisoned in a crackdown by President Daniel Ortega and handed them over to Vatican authorities who welcomed them in Rome.

Bishop Rolando Álvarez and the other clergy were jailed more than a year ago, in most cases, as part of a crackdown on the opposition and Catholic church by Ortega. He had accused them of supporting massive 2018 civic protests that he claimed were a plot to overthrow him.

The government said in a press statement the releases on Sunday were part of negotiations with the Vatican aimed at “making possible their trip to the Vatican.” In the past, imprisoned priests have been quickly flown to Rome.

Vatican News, the Vatican’s in-house media operation, said the group arrived in Rome on Sunday afternoon and were welcomed as “guests of the Holy See.”

Ortega’s government said those released also included Bishop Isidoro Mora.

Ortega sent 222 prisoners to the United States in February in a deal brokered by the U.S. government and later stripped those prisoners of their citizenship.

Bishop Álvarez has remained in prison for more than a year after being convicted of conspiracy and receiving a 26-year prison sentence. One of the country’s most outspoken clergy members, had refused to get on the February flight to the United States without being able to consult with other bishops.

In October, Nicaragua released a dozen Catholic priests jailed on a variety of charges and sent them to Rome following an agreement with the Vatican.

Since repressing popular protests in 2018 that called for his resignation, Ortega’s government has systematically silenced opposing voices and zeroed in on the church, including seizing the prestigious Jesuit-run University of Central America in August.

Nicaragua’s Congress, dominated by Ortega’s Sandinista National Liberation Front, has ordered the closure of more than 3,000 nongovernmental organizations, including Mother Teresa’s charity.

The latest from america

Pope Leo XIV meets with Vice President JD Vance after the formal inauguration of his pontificate at the Vatican on May 18. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Pope Leo I helped to ensure that Catholicism would outlast the Roman Empire. His name is a reminder that our faith rises above contemporary politics and temporal authority.
The Gospel parable of the “wasteful sower” who casts seeds on fertile soil as well as on a rocky path “is an image of the way God loves us,” Pope Leo XIV told 40,000 visitors and pilgrims at his first weekly general audience.
Cindy Wooden May 21, 2025
President Donald Trump, center, surrounded by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., and Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., speaks to reporters before a House Republican conference meeting, Tuesday, May 20, 2025, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
“These proposed changes threaten access to care for millions of Americans, particularly those in underserved areas, where our member systems work every day to provide quality, compassionate care.”
Kevin ClarkeMay 20, 2025
The Archdiocese of Chicago has scheduled a Mass and a special program to celebrate the election and inauguration of Pope Leo XIV, a native son of the Windy City.