Nicaraguan government blasts Vatican as ´immoral grotesque freaks, dressed up as pastors´

The Nicaraguan government has launched a tirade of abuse at the Vatican following an EWTN interview with the exiled Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa, central Nicaragua.

In an 800-word rant, published in both Spanish and English on El 19 Digital, the official news outlet of the Nicaraguan government, reference is made to the “pedophile Vatican State,” which is “denounced as such throughout the world.”

The statement, written in clunky English, claims the Nicaraguan state is secular and “promotes respect for all religious creeds.” However, the statement also decries the Vatican as “having no supranational political authority” and describes Church leaders who have spoken out against the country’s authoritarian regime as “prophets and merchants of falsehood, [who] know nothing of Christ.”

Other bizarre comments included: “the Vatican State… allies with forces of darkness, barbarism, genocide, and evil” and “in the name of all the martyrs, of all the dead that the ignoble practices of the Vatican State have generated the whole world over.”

Bishop Álvarez appeared on EWTN on 7 February. In the brief interview, the Bishop discussed his imprisonment, release, and his love for his country but stayed clear of any overt criticism of the country’s government.

He describes being very happy in Rome, saying: “When I was detained I always thought that at the time of liberation, after Nicaragua, the best city in which I could live is the eternal one.” He also shares that upon his release he “felt a deep joy, but above all it was an experience of faith, because at that moment I recited and professed the Creed which is why I suffered that experience for my faith.”

Bishop Álvarez was given a 26-year jail sentence in February 2023 after refusing to be exiled. The 58-year-old bishop was accused of treason and spreading false information by President Daniel Ortega’s authoritarian government.

However, less than a year later, Bishop Álvarez, along with 18 other members of the Catholic Church, was sent to Rome.

Nicaragua has become particularly violent against Catholic groups in recent years. Following anti-government protests in 2018, which left hundreds dead, the Church spoke out against many instances of human rights abuses perpetrated by the regime.

In March 2022, the Vatican’s Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag, was expelled, and in 2023, the government seized the Major Seminary of Matagalpa, preventing the training of new priests in the region. In that same year, the Jesuit order in the country was effectively dissolved when the government took control of the Jesuit-run University of Central America (UCA).

In 2023, the Poor Clare Sisters’ convent and property were also seized by the government. The cloistered nuns, who dedicate themselves to contemplative life and Eucharistic adoration, were accused of supporting “terrorism.” Their whereabouts are not currently known.

Since his arrival in the Vatican, Bishop Álvarez has remained active in pastoral work, including visiting various Nicaraguan priests who have also been forced to leave the country. He was also asked by the Pope to participate in the second session of the Synod on Synodality in October 2024.

Photo: Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega flanked by his wife and Vice President Rosario Murillo (Photo by INTI OCON/AFP via Getty Images)

The post Nicaraguan government blasts Vatican as ´immoral grotesque freaks, dressed up as pastors´ first appeared on Catholic Herald.

The post Nicaraguan government blasts Vatican as ´immoral grotesque freaks, dressed up as pastors´ appeared first on Catholic Herald.