In Leo’s diplomatic approach to Nicaragua, timing will be key

The pope may find his options limited by the government's demands for control over episcopal appointments.

Pope Leo XIV received Bishop Rolando Álvarez in a Nov. 13 audience, marking the first meeting between the bishop — who spent more than a year in Nicaraguan prisons on conspiracy charges — and the new pope.

The audience comes two months after the pope received three other exiled Nicaraguan bishops at the Vatican.

The string of recent meetings has prompted …