Magda Lanuza *, NicaNotes, August 18th 2022
https://afgj.org/es-LA/nicanotes-08-18-2022
Some background: Bishop Rolando José Álvarez, Catholic Bishop of Matagalpa and Estelí, has this month been placed under house arrest in Matagalpa, and is under investigation for “organizing violent groups to destabilize the government.” The bishop was one of the Catholic leaders involved in the violent coup attempt in Nicaragua in 2018 and played a prominent role in the “national dialogue” that the government joined in a failed attempt to control opposition violence. His recent arrest has been widely publicized, including in the Washington Post, with scenes of him praying in the street before a line of police officers. However, a short communiqué from Nicaraguan Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes and the Nicaraguan Bishops Conference clarified that the acts carried out by Rolando Álvarez were in his personal capacity and nothing to do with the rest of the bishops of the country.
At the end of July 2022, the Bishop of Rome travelled to Canada to ask for forgiveness. The reason for this gesture was that the Catholic Church together with the Canadian authorities had carried out a plan to eradicate their heritage from Indigenous children who came to religious schools. From 1831 to 1970, thousands of children in Catholic-run schools were cruelly punished for speaking their languages and retaining their customs and many died. The aim was to “Kill the Indian in the child,” thus exterminating the aboriginal population of that nation. In the face of such dreadful deeds, only the Pope has asked for humanity’s forgiveness.
Similarly, the hierarchical Catholic Church in Nicaragua, composed of the bishops, has always been a factor in the struggle for political power, with its back turned away from the suffering of the majority. In 1934, the bishops of the time advised Augusto Sandino that he had better lay down his arms and that everything would improve if he did so. That same day the National Guard assassinated that same leader who had sought better living conditions for the people and basic rights for the peasantry to work in the fields.
The Catholic hierarchy supported the Somozas during the almost 45 years of their dictatorship and it was only two years before the Sandinista revolution that some in the hierarchy timidly supported the people’s liberation. But, of course, by this time not even the former US president Jimmy Carter gave his support to the dictator Somoza as his end came in 1979.
During the decade of the revolution in the 1980s, the Catholic hierarchy joined forces with the empire to remove Sandinismo from power. In the first three years, the bishops set out to cleanse the parishes of any vestige of liberation theology and the legacy of the Peruvian theologian Gustavo Gutiérrez who in 1972 proposed giving priority to the poor in accordance with the 1968 Medellín Conference.
As part of their crusade, the hierarchy prepared for the arrival of John Paul II in Managua in 1983. In Nicaragua there was a slogan. “Between Christianity and revolution there is no contradiction” and so the main objective of the Pope’s visit was to discipline Nicaragua’s revolutionary priests who were working for a more just society from within the government. Afterwards the bishops celebrated the 1984 promulgation by the then Cardinal Ratzinger of the ‘Instruction’ on aspects of liberation theology. This Instruction censured this theology that was growing in strength in Latin America. And the majority of the clergy of the time abandoned their brother priests and supported the punishment that was being imposed on them, many of whom died while still under this censorship.
In 2007, with the return to power of Sandinismo in Nicaragua, a truce was devised, and concessions were made to the clergy. Among other things, the government invested in the renovation, construction and beautification of churches, cathedrals, and the squares and parks in front of Catholic temples. Everything was done in good faith, as Sandinistas are devoted, living Christians. However, in 2018, relations with the clergy again took a dramatic turn for the worse. The Catholic hierarchy openly led and participated in the violent revolt aimed at removing Sandinismo from power. The facts about their role are supported by published evidence contained in the report prepared by the Apostolic Nuncio, which he sent to the Pope.
In keeping with what the Church did in 2018 and the historical reality of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, last week Bishop Rolando José Álvarez appeared on his knees in public in front of the police. This bishop of two dioceses, Matagalpa and Estelí, major Sandinista strongholds, shouted excitedly that he was being persecuted, calling out with the figure of Christ in his hand. Curiously, this area has seven religious radio stations which are administered by this bishop. Before 2018, the religious media had tax exemptions, but these privileges have been withdrawn and that is at the root of the spectacle that Álvarez created. Of course, when we review the history of the church, we find that this institution has been reluctant to declare its income, despite collecting healthy revenues from its parishioners. The church hierarchy objects to declaring and paying their taxes, obligations that any honest citizen fulfils.
But, liberation theology is still alive and well in spite of the Nicaraguan clergy. In 2015 during the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Pact of the Catacombs, signed in Domitilla, Italy, in 1965, Pope Francis told Jon Sobrino, one of the greatest liberation theologians, to “carry on writing.” In the present context, it is an unparalleled extrapolation that runs against history for Bishop Álvarez to compare himself (as he did) to the great St. Oscar Romero, martyr of the poor and oppressed of El Salvador. The Catholic Church in Nicaragua lags way behind all the other churches in Central America in terms any real commitment to the people. Therefore, to repeat: amen, amen, let us pray for the church of Nicaragua which is out of touch with reality and has no historical memory. But it is not enough to pray; as the song goes, “No basta rezar; hacen falta muchas cosas para conseguir la paz” — many other conditions are needed to achieve peace.
* Magda Lanuza is a Nicaraguan sociologist who has worked over 25 years in sustainable development in Nicaragua and in Central America.