The letter also explicitly mentioned priests Ramón Tijerino, José Luis Díaz and Sadiel Eugarrios; Deacon Raúl Vega; seminarians Darvin Leiva and Melkin Centeno; and lay cameraman Sergio Cárdenas, “victims, all of them of false accusations,” who were recently fined and sentenced to 10 years in prison for the same charges that Álvarez faces.
The cardinal denounced the regime’s shutdown of Catholic radio stations, “police obstructing access to churches and other serious acts that disturb religious freedom and just social order.”
According to Hollerich, these are examples of the worsening situation for Catholics that began a few years ago in the country.
The president of COMECE described as “admirable” the testimonies of commitment to the faith of the Church in Nicaragua.
“Your fidelity to the message of Our Lord Jesus Christ and your dedication to the good of your neighbor is a living example and model to follow in so many other situations of persecution that, unfortunately, are multiplying in various parts of the world,” Hollerich noted.
“We join ours to the voice that cries out because of the injustice to which our brothers in Nicaragua are being subjected and we demand their immediate release,” the cardinal said.