Mons. Rolando Álvarez Lagos, Bishop of Matagalpa and Apostolic Administrator of Estelí; is currently exiled to the Vatican bagged the Libertas Awards of the Principality of Asuruas 2024 organized by the Association for the Participation of Civil Society Oviedo21.
The prelate – who arrived in Rome in January of this year along with another bishop, several priests and seminarians – has been awarded the Libertas International Prize, for his commitment to the defence and freedom of the people of Nicaragua, according to Europa Press.
At a press conference held today, the president of the aforementioned association, José Antonio Álvarez, reported that the awards ceremony will take place on May 29 at 7:30 p.m. (local time) at the Príncipe Felipe Auditorium in Oviedo.
In statements to the Nicaraguan newspaper Article 66, the president of the Association highlighted that “Monsignor Álvarez is not only a religious leader but also a staunch defender of freedom in Nicaragua.”
“His courage to go into exile along with more than 200 compatriots and his price of going to prison is an especially significant fact that we wanted to endorse with this award,” he said.
The Bishop of Matagalpa, a well-known defender of human rights and critic of the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, and his wife and vice president Rosario Murillo, were forced to remain confined inside their episcopal house since the beginning of August 2022, along with some priests, seminarians and a layman.
Two weeks later, they were almost out of food supplies, the Nicaraguan police broke into the house and kidnapped Mons. Álvarez to Managua, the country’s capital, where he was under house arrest.
Amid a question process, the dictatorship sentenced him on 10 February 2023 to more than 26 years in prison, accusing him of “traitor to the country.” Since then, he has been held in the prison known as La Modelo, to which the regime’s political prisoners are sent.
One day before being sentenced, Bishop Álvarez had refused to get on a plane in which Ortega and Murillo deported more than 200 political prisoners to the United States.
He was finally deported to Rome, after mediation by the Vatican, on 14 January.