{"id":192228,"date":"2026-07-03T10:32:43","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T16:32:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/confidencial.digital\/sin-categoria\/bishop-abelardo-mata-arrested-and-missing-in-nicaragua\/"},"modified":"2026-07-06T04:26:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T10:26:05","slug":"bishop-abelardo-mata-arrested-and-missing-in-nicaragua","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/confidencial.digital\/en\/english\/bishop-abelardo-mata-arrested-and-missing-in-nicaragua\/","title":{"rendered":"Bishop Abelardo Mata Arrested and Missing in Nicaragua"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bishop Emeritus of Estel\u00ed, Monsignor Abelardo Mata, has remained the victim of an enforced disappearance since June 30, 2026, when he was abducted by the Police. Since his capture, there has been no information about his whereabouts or the conditions in which the 80-year-old Catholic prelate is being held. <\/p>\n\n

A source connected to the Catholic Church confirmed to CONFIDENCIAL<\/strong> that Monsignor Mata \u201cis not at his home, and we do not know where he is.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

Mata was initially detained by police on Monday, June 29, 2026<\/a>, in retaliation for a Mass celebrated on Sunday, June 28, at the Church of the Holy Cross of Calvary in the city of Estel\u00ed, during which he asked the faithful to pray for the persecuted Catholic Church. <\/p>\n\n

Monsignor Mata was left under police surveillance at his residence in the city of Tisma, in the department of Masaya. However, on June 30\u2014according to the Church source\u2014he was once again abducted by police officers. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cI spoke with a priest who is inside Nicaragua and is in direct contact with the family. They said he has not been brought home and that they are desperate and distressed because they know nothing about the bishop,\u201d said attorney and researcher Martha Patricia Molina. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cThe bishop,\u201d she emphasized, \u201cis not with his family, nor is he at the seminary. He is in the hands of the dictatorship.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

Another Priest Abducted <\/h2>\n\n

Police also arrested Father Francisco Morales, pastor of the Church of the Holy Cross of Calvary in Estel\u00ed, where Monsignor Mata presided over the Eucharist before being abducted. According to reports, paramilitaries arrived at the church to photograph the bishop during the service, listen to his homily, and \u201ctake pictures of the people who greeted him.\u201d He, too, remains the victim of an enforced disappearance. <\/p>\n\n

The authorities also detained Deacon Wilfred Arauz Rodr\u00edguez, who was released several hours later, Molina said. <\/p>\n\n

The researcher stated that the situation makes it clear that under the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, \u201cno one is allowed to speak.\u201d Following the abductions of the bishop and the other clergy, \u201csome religious activities in the Diocese of Estel\u00ed have been suspended due to the climate of uncertainty,\u201d the attorney reported. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cThe last time they were seen alive was in police custody,\u201d Molina said, holding the Ortega-Murillo regime responsible for the physical safety of the missing religious leaders.<\/p>\n\n

Calls for \u201cProof of Life\u201d<\/h2>\n\n

US Senator Rick Scott demanded that the regime provide \u201cproof of life\u201d for Monsignor Mata<\/a>, who he said had been \u201cforcibly disappeared.\u201d [Scott\u2019s state of Florida has a large number of Nicaraguan diaspora and exiles.] <\/p>\n\n

\u201cHis family still has no information about his whereabouts. He has a medical condition that requires immediate attention. The regime must immediately provide proof that Monsignor Mata is alive and release him immediately and unconditionally,\u201d the senator wrote on social media. <\/p>\n\n

Scott also said the regime must \u201cput an end\u201d to its repression of the Nicaraguan people and its \u201cvicious attacks on religious freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThe level of force used against an 80-year-old religious leader is as shameful as it is absurd and cannot be tolerated,\u201d Scott said. <\/p>\n\n

Regime Targets the Church in Nicaragua <\/h2>\n\n

The recent actions against Bishop Mata are the latest example of the climate of repression in Nicaragua. In a joint statement, a coalition of nine Nicaraguan political and civil society organizations denounced that the “persecution of the Catholic Church remains ongoing.” <\/p>\n\n

\u201cAny act of harassment against Monsignor Mata constitutes an attack not only against him personally (\u2026) It is part of a systematic policy of intimidation, harassment, and persecution directed against bishops, priests, religious men and women, and laypeople committed to their faith,\u201d the organizations reiterated. <\/p>\n\n

In March 2026, Rosario Murillo lashed out at critical priests and exiles<\/a> who question her regime, accusing them of \u201cserving the devil\u201d and calling them \u201cwanderers,\u201d \u201ctraitors,\u201d and people \u201cfilled with hatred\u201d who, she claimed, seek to \u201charm\u201d Nicaragua \u201cfrom other lands.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

Monsignor Juan Abelardo Mata is well known for his outspoken criticism of the regime. He submitted his resignation as Bishop of Estel\u00ed on June 23, 2021, upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75 under canon law and has served as bishop emeritus ever since. <\/p>\n\n

Since 2018, he has denounced the persecution of the Church and publicly supported priests and bishops who were imprisoned and later exiled. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t even know how to lie anymore. The devil himself ends up entangled, and whoever follows the devil falls into the very trap he digs for others,\u201d the bishop said in a 2020 interview<\/a> with CONFIDENCIAL and the online program Esta Noche<\/a>, which is broadcast online because of the television censorship imposed by the dictatorship.<\/p>\n\n

In 2021, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) granted him precautionary measures because of the \u201charassment and threats stemming from his position within the Catholic Church.\u201d On July 15, 2018, after celebrating Mass in Managua, Monsignor Mata was traveling to Tisma when he was stopped by Ortega regime police officers and armed paramilitaries at a traffic circle in the city of Nindir\u00ed. <\/p>\n\n

Diocese of Estel\u00ed Among the Hardest Hit by Repression<\/h2>\n\n

The report Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church,<\/em><\/a> prepared by Molina, documents 81 attacks against the Diocese of Estel\u00ed since 2018. The study also notes that Estel\u00ed remains without a residential bishop, as do the dioceses of Matagalpa, Jinotega, and Siuna, due to the exile of other clergy. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cIt is forced to function without a bishop and with only 42% of its clergy. This makes pastoral work difficult and places a heavier burden on the priests who remain active, carrying out the work of those who are in exile because of persecution, who have died, or who for one reason or another are no longer able to exercise their ministry in Nicaragua,\u201d Molina said.<\/p>\n\n

Among the main repressive actions against the Catholic Church are:<\/p>\n\n