One day after he declined to be deported from his country, Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa, Nicaragua was sentenced to 26 years in prison.

And while Pope Francis has spoken out against the bishop’s treatment, along with bishops and priests exiled from Nicaragua, few Churchmen inside the country have publicly recognized Álvarez’s criminal prosecution. …

Judge Rothschuh explained that Álvarez received a one-year sentence for disobedience of authority for refusing to be exiled, five years for the propagation of fake news, five years and four months for aggravated obstruction of functions, and 15 years for “treason against the homeland.”

[This is a martyrdom in progress. Daniel Ortega has become every bit the Castro-esque dictator he was during his first time in power, and again has made fools of those who claimed Ortega to be anything but another socialist totalitarian. As is usual in these cases, the regime has gone after the Catholic Church and other religious communities. Álvarez is the highest profile figure thus far in Ortega’s suppression, and he’s clearly sticking around to raise the profile of Ortega’s cruelty. It might be nice to see American establishment media covering this story, but … — Ed]