SEVILLE, Spain (OSV News) -- Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa, imprisoned for over 500 days in his native Nicaragua and expelled to Rome on Jan. 14, celebrated the centenary of his diocese in the province of Seville, where many of his priests and seminarians found a new home.
"In honor of Our Lady of Sorrows, in memory of Our Lady of Hope and on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the canonical foundation of my blessed and beloved diocese of Matagalpa, we pray for our beloved Nicaragua," he said Dec. 19.
Bishop Álvarez celebrated Mass at Our Lady of the Orchards, a parish in the town of Puebla de los Infantes, 50 miles east of Seville.
Bishop Álvarez also read the first paragraphs of the letter written on Dec. 2 by Pope Francis to the people of Nicaragua. "Precisely in the most difficult moments, when it becomes humanly impossible to understand what God wants of us," the pope wrote, "we can understand what God wants from us, we are called not to doubt his care and mercy," the steadfast Nicaraguan bishop repeated after the Holy Father.
The bishop, who was named one of 10 Catholics of the Year for 2024 by Our Sunday Visitor, was released from prison and sent into exile almost a year ago along with 18 other imprisoned churchmen. In expelling Bishop Álvarez, the Nicaraguan government ousted its most prominent critic, whose presence behind bars bore witness to the Sandinista regime descent into totalitarianism, along with its unrelenting persecution of the Catholic Church.
At the end of the centenary Mass, Bishop Álvarez offered his pectoral cross to Our Lady of Sorrows in gratitude "for these 100 years of canonical foundation of my blessed and beloved diocese of Matagalpa." He also hoped "that this gesture could be contemplated by all my faithful from Matagalpa, from the countryside and the city, telling them that I am praying for them."
He said: "I am making this gesture of love for them, for the Lord, for the church, for the Blessed Virgin."
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, or USCIRF, condemned the Nicaraguan government's arrest and imprisonment of Bishop Álvarez, as well as its detainment of priests and bishops who publicly criticized the government or expressed support for the imprisoned bishop.
USCIRF Commissioner Maureen Ferguson told OSV News that with constant persecution of the church and clergy and religious being expelled one by one, "the people of Nicaragua are suffering on a material level, from lack of care on a human level, from lack of care on a spiritual level, for having the expression of their faith suppressed. It's just tragic on every level."
Bishop Álvarez thanked Archbishop José Ángel Saiz Meneses of Seville for "his generosity" in "receiving my priests and seminarians."
He said: "Thank you for your prayers, please continue praying for me and for my beloved Nicaragua."
The Dec. 19 Mass was not the first time that Bishop Álvarez traveled to Seville. The previous visit took place on June 6 when he visited the archbishop's palace, seminary, cathedral and priest's house.
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