Nicaragua releases Bishop Juan Abelardo Mata after US call for freedom

The U.S. State Department’s Western Hemisphere Affairs Office demanded that Nicaragua immediately and unconditionally free 80‑year‑old Bishop Juan Abelardo Mata, who had been detained after celebrating a mass in which he urged prayers for the persecuted Catholic Church. The department warned that the bishop “poses no threat to the regime” and condemned the “continuous and cruel persecution of religious freedom” by the Ortega‑Murillo government.

Following intense international pressure, Nicaraguan authorities placed the retired prelate under house arrest before later allowing him to return to his home. The episode underscores a broader pattern of religious repression in Nicaragua, which has seen the expulsion of hundreds of priests and the detention of other clergy, including Bishop Isidoro Mora. Human‑rights groups continue to call for the unconditional release of all religious figures detained by the regime.