Nicaraguan human rights activists demanded on Monday that the communist regime show proof of life for 80-year-old Bishop Emeritus Juan Abelardo Mata, who was allegedly “released” recently after spending a week unjustly detained by the regime’s police.
The bishop’s purported release has been questioned by Nicaraguan activists, who reportedly affirmed to the Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa that the priest remains missing as of Monday morning and fear his potential forced banishment from Nicaraguan territory.
Mata, who turned 80 years old in late June, is the bishop emeritus of Estelí. ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language division of the Catholic News Agency, reported that Bishop Mata was detained by Nicaraguan police officers on Monday, June 29.
The arrest occurred just one day after Mata held a Mass and asked the faithful gathered to pray for the persecuted Nicaraguan Catholic Church and for the priests who have been banished by the ruling communists from their own country, such as Monsignor Rolando Álvarez — one of the most emblematic cases in the years-long persecution campaign led by husband-and-wife dictator couple Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo against Christianity in Nicaragua.
On Saturday, a week after his arrest, the U.S. State Department demanded the immediate release of the 80-year-old bishop, once again condemning the Ortega regime for its persecution of Christianity in the Central American nation.
Hours after the State Department’s message, the Ortega regime’s Interior Ministry released a statement claiming that Bishop Mata had been subjected to a “necessary investigation into the origin of protests and family ties” that are “inconsistent” with the priest’s status. According to the Ortega regime, the bishop was “returned to his home, where he remains in perfect health.”
“Bishop Emeritus Abelardo Mata has provided statements regarding various incidents of violations of national laws, which the Nicaraguan people have become aware of at different times,” the statement read in part.
“Upon returning to his residence, Bishop Mata acknowledged that he was treated at all times with the respect and consideration that characterizes the investigative agencies of our Nicaragua,” the statement concluded.
ACI Prensa detailed on Saturday that Nicaraguan ecclesiastical sources and activists questioned the veracity of the communist regime’s statement, deeming the information of Bishop Mata’s release and return home as “untrue.”
“The statement issued by the Sandinista dictatorship is a response to the demand made by President Donald Trump’s administration calling for the release of the bishop emeritus and an end to attacks on religious freedom,” Nicaraguan activist Martha Patricia Molina told ACI Prensa. “This action should not be considered true. The bishop is still missing.”
Molina, who has extensively documented the Ortega regime’s persecution of Christianity in Nicaragua, spoke with La Prensa on Monday and said that she last saw Bishop Mata last week, “in a photo that was shared with me while he was celebrating the Eucharist, and I was told that he was being watched.”
“Some sources say he is at home, but that they haven’t seen him or spoken with him. They say he is at home, based on the statement,” Molina said, demanding an urgent proof of life of the Catholic bishop emeritus.
“He [Mata] is a sick man, and it is not the dictatorship’s style or practice to treat those it has kidnapped well,” Molina stressed.
Similarly, exiled Nicaraguan human rights activist Gonzalo Carrión affirmed to La Prensa that the Ortega regime “did not forgive” Bishop Mata for speaking against the ruling communists in the recent Mass. Carrión noted that the retired priest “has never submitted himself to the regime’s criminal structure,” and, like Molina, demanded proof of life for the missing priest.
“Because of their arbitrary nature, they do not explain the reason behind the abusive act; there have been certain cases that have had a negative impact on the regime, and when it feels pressure, it addresses those cases,” Carrión told La Prensa.
Ortega and his wife and “co-President” Rosario Murillo have maintained a brutal persecution campaign against the Nicaraguan Catholic Church — seeking to “punish” the Church for its support of the 2018 wave of anti-communist protests in Nicaragua.
The Ortega regime’s persecution of Christianity dramatically increased in 2022. Since then, the Nicaraguan Church has seen the arrest, torture, and banishment of several of its members, the forced seizure of Church assets, and the mass closure of Catholic media outlets and universities throughout the nation. Similarly, the ruling communists have disrupted and banned hundreds of Catholic events and processions.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.