For five years, the government and church of Nicaragua have been at odds over protests and state corruption.

Bishop Álvarez, facing the threat of incarceration, maintains a message of love and hope.

"Today we are remembering the priests, the journalists, the social activists and the young people who have died violently," Fr. Jorge Atilano González told his congregation.

Cardinal Claudio Hummes was one of Brazil’s main religious leaders and a strong advocate for the poor.

When asked if he felt he had changed during his papacy, the pope said he was told by several people “that things that were dormant in my personality came to the surface; that I became more merciful.”

Human rights in Nicaragua have deteriorated since a political crisis in 2018 pitted the increasingly authoritarian Ortega government against democracy and political reform advocates.