More than fifteen Catholic clerics in Rome after their release in Nicaragua

Following an agreement between the government of Managua and the diplomacy of the Holy See, Catholic dignitaries, including Archbishop Alvarez, were welcomed in Rome on Sunday. It was a gesture of détente between the Ortega regime and the Catholic Church after months of tensions.

Bishop Rolando Alvarez of Matagalpa (Nicaragua), pictured here on May 3, 2018, was released on Sunday, January 14, 2024. AP - Moises Castillo

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With our correspondent in Rome, Éric Sénanque

In total, two bishops, 15 priests and two seminarians were released, the result of an agreement with the Vatican, the Nicaraguan government said in a statement. All have been arrested in recent years, accused of conspiracy by the Ortega regime or supporting the opposition.

For months, Vatican diplomacy had been working to secure the release of imprisoned priests and two bishops, including the bishop of Matagalpa, Rolando Alvarez, who was sentenced to 26 years in prison without trial. After months of tensions, the release is a sign of warming between Managua and the Holy See. The religious arrived in Rome yesterday afternoon and, like other priests from Nicaragua expelled last October, could be welcomed in structures of the diocese of Rome.

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The situation in Nicaragua remains worrying," Francis said last week in his New Year's greetings to ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, as the country carried out a new wave of arrests of Catholic leaders at the end of the year. "It is a crisis that persists and has painful consequences for Nicaraguan society as a whole.

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