Managua:

Imprisoned Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando Alvarez has been awarded the CHARISMA Award for Cooperation and Mission in a ceremony organized by the Spanish Conference of Religious. The bishop was recognized for “his social commitment, particularly to the persecuted Church of his country and his works to build communities based on justice, peace and solidarity.”

The Bishop of Matagalpa received the award on November 27, his 57th birthday. Along with the prelate, several notable individuals, organizations, and foundations that showed their commitment to evangelical principles during their daily work also received awards.

The award on behalf of the prelate was received by the exiled Nicaraguan journalist Israel González Espinoza, and a video of Auxiliary Bishop Silvio Báez of Managua, an exile living in the United States, was played.

“It is an honor and a privilege for me to address you tonight and accept the Charisma Award that is awarded this year to my brother, Bishop Monsignor Rolando José Álvarez,” he said at the beginning of his message.

Bishop Báez mentioned that Bishop Álvarez had been wrongfully imprisoned for standing up for justice and the gospel's veracity, for protecting people's rights and dignity, and for standing for the most vulnerable members of society.

The prelate further thanked for the recognition of his brother and called on the “religious of Spain and all of you to keep Nicaragua and Rolando in prayer for his prompt, unconditional and immediate release and a future of peace, justice and freedom for our people.”

In February of last year, the Nicaraguan dictatorship led by President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, sentenced Bishop Álvarez, who is also the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Estelí, to 26 years and four months in jail for offenses deemed to be acts of treason.