{"id":7057,"date":"2026-07-07T21:15:43","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T21:15:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\/magazine\/?p=7057"},"modified":"2026-08-04T21:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T21:18:08","slug":"us-condemns-the-detention-and-disappearance-of-a-bishop-in-nicaragua","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\/magazine\/us-condemns-the-detention-and-disappearance-of-a-bishop-in-nicaragua\/","title":{"rendered":"US Condemns the Detention and Disappearance of a Bishop in Nicaragua"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By David Agren, OSV News<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(OSV News) \u2014 Another Nicaraguan bishop remains missing after being apprehended by police, drawing a rebuke from the United States for the ongoing \u201cattacks on religious freedom\u201d in the increasingly authoritarian country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bishop Juan Abelardo Mata was detained by police June 29 \u2014 one day after celebrating a Mass in the city of Estel\u00ed, during which he requested prayers for the country\u2019s persecuted Catholic Church<\/a>, according to independent Nicaraguan news outlet Confidencial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The country\u2019s interior ministry acknowledged Bishop Mata had been detained, but said in a July 4 statement that he \u201chas returned to his home, where he remains in perfect condition.\u201d The statement continued, \u201cMr. Abelardo Mata has given statements regarding various episodes of violation of National Laws, which the Nicaraguan people have known about at different times.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Confidencial and Catholic observers, however, said Bishop Mata\u2019s whereabouts remains unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUntil the dictatorship does not present the emeritus bishop Juan Abelardo Mata safe and sound at his home, any statement they issue is a lie,\u201d Martha Patricia Molina, an exiled lawyer who tracks Nicaraguan Church repression<\/a>, said in a July 4 X post. \u201cThe bishop is not at his home. The priests who are informed about the case have confirmed this to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Molina told OSV News July 6 that no one close to Bishop Mata has seen him, despite the interior ministry\u2019s claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She told Confidencial that Father Francisco Morales, pastor of the parish where Bishop Mata celebrated Mass prior to his detention, was also detained. His whereabouts also remains unknown. Molina said Deacon Wilfred Arauz Rodr\u00edguez was likewise taken into custody, but had been released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. calls for the prelate\u2019s immediate release<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs in the Department of State said in a July 4 post on X<\/a>, \u201cWe demand the immediate and unconditional release of Nicaraguan Bishop Abelardo Mata who has been arbitrarily detained by the Murillo-Ortega dictatorship. 80-year-old Bishop Mata poses no threat to the regime, and his health is fragile. We further condemn the Murillo-Ortega dictatorship\u2019s continued cruel religious persecution and repression.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. Sen. Rick Scot<\/a>t, R-Fla., added, \u201cThe regime must immediately provide proof that Msgr. Mata is alive, release him immediately and unconditionally, and end, once and for all, its persecution of the Nicaraguan people and its vicious attacks on religious freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He continued in a July 2 X post, \u201cThere is no place for evil dictators in our hemisphere. The Ortega-Murillo regime will be held accountable for its systematic persecution of the Catholic Church and the Nicaraguan people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Religious repression in Nicaragua: a disheartening outlook<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The detention of Bishop Mata offered a stark reminder of the repression of Nicaragua\u2019s Catholic Church under the Sandinista regime<\/a> of Co-Presidents Daniel Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo. The repression has forced priests to censor their homilies, parishes to keep processions to church property and clergy to flee the country. Molina has counted more than 300 priests, religious and seminarians in exile, along with four bishops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sandinista regime appears to have targeted dioceses with bishops in exile, including Estel\u00ed, where exiled Bishop Rolando \u00c1lvarez<\/a> of Matagalpa is apostolic administrator. More than half the priests in the dioceses of Estel\u00ed and Matagalpa have left the country or been denied reentry after traveling abroad, according to Molina, while the many of the clergy remaining are elderly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bishop Mata retired as leader of the Diocese of Estel\u00ed in 2021. Bishop \u00c1lvarez was exiled in 2023<\/a> after being convicted on conspiracy charges and sentenced to 26 years in prison. Catholic officials condemned the trial as a sham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nicaragua in Pope Leo\u2019s heart<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Four bishops are among those living in exile. Pope Leo XIV received three of the exiled Nicaraguan bishops Aug. 23, 2025, for a private audience, Bishop Carlos Herrera of Jinotega, Bishop Isidoro Mora of Siuna, and Auxiliary Bishop Silvio Jos\u00e9 B\u00e1ez of Managua \u2014 a sign of his support for their continued leadership, despite being outside Nicaragua, according to Church observers. Molina has posited the co-presidents would like to have regime-friendly prelates as they crush all dissent in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes of Managua, 77, returned from the June consistory in Rome \u2014 after not traveling to the previous consistory in January. He said July 5 in Managua that he met with Pope Leo XIV<\/a>, who asked about his health and when Cardinal Brenes told him, \u201cJust a cold,\u201d the pope said he can continue his mission, despite the fact he is over 75, the age at which canon requires bishops submit their resignation to the pope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bishop B\u00e1ez, who now ministers in Florida after Pope Francis asked him to leave Nicaragua in 2019 for his own safety, told Confidencial in an interview broadcast July 5 that Pope Leo had proactively reached out to the exiled bishops after being elected in May 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter his election as pope, I realized he has a very detailed understanding of the situation in Nicaragua<\/a>. He knows what is happening, he knows the situation of the Church, he was aware of our own situation,\u201d Bishop B\u00e1ez told Confidencial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am certain that Nicaragua, the Church in Nicaragua, the priests, and the bishops are in his mind and in his heart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Featured image: Worshippers pray during Mass at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Managua, Nicaragua, Aug. 21, 2022. Retired Bishop Juan Abelardo Mata was detained by police June 29, 2026, one day after celebrating a Mass in the city of Estel\u00ed, during which he requested prayers for the country\u2019s persecuted Catholic Church, according to independent Nicaraguan news outlet Confidencial. (OSV News\/Maynor Valenzuela, Reuters)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Nicaragua, Bishop Juan Abelardo Mata arrested amid the Ortega regime\u2019s escalating persecution of the Catholic Church.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":7059,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","_eb_data_table":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1053],"tags":[3085,3084,3086,1324,1320,3089,547,701,3087,3090,3088,3091],"class_list":["post-7057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-bishop-juan-abelardo-mata","tag-bishop-rolando-alvarez","tag-bureau-of-western-hemisphere-affairs-in-the-department-of-state","tag-david-agren","tag-nicaragua","tag-persecuted-catholic-church","tag-pope-francis","tag-pope-leo-xiv","tag-religious-repression","tag-sandinista-regime","tag-sandinista-regime-of-president-daniel-ortega","tag-u-s-sen-rick-scott"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUS Condemns the Detention and Disappearance of a Bishop in Nicaragua - Maryknoll Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US Condemns the Detention and Disappearance of a Bishop in Nicaragua - Maryknoll Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In Nicaragua, Bishop Juan Abelardo Mata arrested amid the Ortega regime\u2019s escalating persecution of the Catholic Church.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\/magazine\/us-condemns-the-detention-and-disappearance-of-a-bishop-in-nicaragua\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Maryknoll Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-07T21:15:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-04T21:18:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/20260707T0917-NICARAGUA-BISHOP-ARRESTED-1823166_798x447.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"798\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"447\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"OSV News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"OSV News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\\\/magazine\\\/us-condemns-the-detention-and-disappearance-of-a-bishop-in-nicaragua\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\\\/magazine\\\/us-condemns-the-detention-and-disappearance-of-a-bishop-in-nicaragua\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"OSV News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\\\/magazine\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/78b508897748b14f03af3c709940d12b\"},\"headline\":\"US Condemns the Detention and Disappearance of a Bishop in Nicaragua\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-07T21:15:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-04T21:18:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\\\/magazine\\\/us-condemns-the-detention-and-disappearance-of-a-bishop-in-nicaragua\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":958,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\\\/magazine\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\\\/magazine\\\/us-condemns-the-detention-and-disappearance-of-a-bishop-in-nicaragua\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dev.maryknollsociety.org\\\/magazine\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/20260707T0917-NICARAGUA-BISHOP-ARRESTED-1823166_798x447.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Bishop Juan Abelardo Mata\",\"Bishop Rolando \u00c1lvarez\",\"Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs in the Department of State\",\"David Agren\",\"nicaragua\",\"persecuted Catholic Church\",\"Pope Francis\",\"Pope Leo XIV\",\"religious repression\",\"Sandinista regime\",\"Sandinista regime of President Daniel Ortega\",\"U.S. Sen. 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Retired Bishop Juan Abelardo Mata was detained by police June 29, 2026, one day after celebrating a Mass in the city of Estel\u00ed, during which he requested prayers for the country\u2019s persecuted Catholic Church, according to independent Nicaraguan news outlet Confidencial. 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It is a part of OSV Publishing, a division of OSV, the largest English-language Catholic publishing company in the United States. 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