Nicaraguan bishop Rolando Álvarez, who began an indefinite fast, prayer and exorcism until the end of the police siege he is suffering, said this Friday that the government of President Daniel Ortega wants "a silent (Catholic) church"but what "if the church were silent, the stones would scream".
"What I think is that not only of me, but in general of the pastors of the church"what the government wants "it is a mute church, that does not announce the hope of the people (…) and the denunciation of personal sin and structures of injustice"Bishop Álvarez noted in an impromptu press conference from the Santo Cristo de Esquipulas parish, located on the outskirts of Managua.
"If the Church were silent, the stones would cry"added the hierarch before a small group of media, including the Efe Agency, which managed to enter the parish before it was besieged by dozens of police officers.
Álvarez explained that, although he has been watched since he began to denounce alleged abuses by the Government, after the social outbreak of April 2018 that left hundreds dead, it was until yesterday, Thursday, that he suffered "a real, true and authentic chase" police.
assured that "two patrols of the Sandinista Police, completely full of policemen, (plus) four policemen on two motorcycles"they chased him "for the whole day" in all his movements, so, for his safety and that of his family, he chose to travel from the city of Matagalpa to Managua and begin indefinite fasting, prayer and exorcism.
RESPECT FOR YOUR CONSTITUTIONAL AND CIVIL RIGHTS
The bishop of the diocese of Matagalpa and administrator of that of Estelí, both in the north of Nicaragua, confirmed that he will not consume more than water and serum indefinitely until the Police guarantee, through the Episcopate, that he will respect his "constitutional, civil, freedom of movement and privacy rights of my family".
He explained that with his fast he seeks to prevent unjustified police persecution from being seen as normal.
The Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua has tried to establish communication with the National Police, led by a relative of President Ortega, to lift the siege against Álvarez, but they have not received a response, the bishop said.
This Friday, two police patrols woke up in front of the parish where Álvarez is located "hosted"also indefinitely, found Efe.
As the hours passed, the number of agents increased and the street in front of the temple was blocked when several journalists were present.
"This type of situation does not pay for anything, neither for the country, nor for the Government, nor for the population, nor for the church either. This does not pay anything positive for anyone"valued.
DO NOT NORMALIZE THE PERSECUTION
The bishop affirmed that he is not afraid of what may happen to him or his relatives, and criticized those who normalize sieges or persecution.
"I’m not afraid, it’s simply a matter of order and it’s a matter of not giving in to this type of intimidation, coercion, blackmail, persecution. If we Nicaraguans end up seeing it as normal, then we would be finished here as a people. And this is not normal, neither in this country nor in any other"he underlined.
Álvarez is in charge of the communication area of the Episcopate and is one of the most popular and influential religious in Nicaragua.
President Ortega has branded "terrorists" to the Nicaraguan bishops who acted as mediators of a national dialogue that sought a peaceful solution to the crisis that the country has been experiencing since 2018.
He has also described them as "putschists"accused of being accomplices of internal forces and international groups that, in his opinion, act in Nicaragua to overthrow him.
Relations between the Sandinistas and the Nicaraguan Catholic Church have been marked by friction and mistrust in the last 43 years.
Nicaragua has been experiencing a political and social crisis since April 2018, which has been accentuated after the controversial general elections on November 7, in which Ortega was re-elected for a fifth term, fourth consecutive and second along with his wife, Rosario Murillo, as vice president, with her main contenders in prison.
