Nicaragua: Around Bishop Mata, the regime denies and uncertainty grows

The Ortega-Murillo regime officially denies any detention of the bishop of Estelí, while his actual situation remains unclear.

We had reported the arrest and apparent release of Bishop Abelardo Mata, emeritus bishop of Estelí, following a mass for the persecuted Church. On July 6, Infovaticana reports that the Ortega-Murillo regime officially denies any detention, while the actual situation of the prelate remains opaque.

The fact

Nicaraguan authorities claim that no restrictive measures have been taken against the emeritus bishop of Estelí. However, several local sources, relayed by Infovaticana, indicate that Bishop Mata remains under close surveillance, without the possibility of free movement. No official statement from the Holy See or the Nicaraguan Episcopal Conference has been made public to date, but local ecclesiastical concern, relayed by several priests of the diocese, is evident.

Our reading, in the light of the magisterium

Since 2018, the Ortega-Murillo regime has multiplied measures against the Church: expulsions, arrests of priests, nationalization of Catholic schools, exile of Cardinal Rolando Álvarez. Public lying is now part of it. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, in nos. 2464-2470, recalls that truth is a fundamental moral duty, and that lying "seriously injures the virtue of justice and charity." Denying the deprivation of liberty of a pastor is the exact opposite. The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, in nos. 197-201, recalls that truth is the foundation of social justice and political life.

To meditate and act

Pray for the bishop and his diocese, support organizations that document ecclesiastical persecution (AED, Open Doors), ask French and European diplomacy to explicitly include the bishop's fate in bilateral diplomatic talks with Managua.