The liberation of Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa from jail in Nicaragua was met with a collective sigh of relief throughout the Catholic and freedom-loving world. After 514 days in jail on trumped-up charges of treason at last this brave man was safely at the Vatican. No longer was his life in any danger. Disaster was finally averted.
In England, his release was “very much” welcomed by Bishop Declan Lang of Clifton, chair of the bishops’ Department for International Affairs, who also implied, perhaps wisely, that this was not quite a happy ending, an unmitigated triumph for life and liberty, by calling for sustained “prayers for all the people of Nicaragua, particularly those who strive to uphold human dignity and social justice”.
