News
Updates on the reports and their presentation.
Father Frutos Valle, administrator of the Diocese of Estelí: more than two years held in a seminary
On July 26, 2024, hours after police banned the ordination of three deacons, Father Frutos Constantino Valle Salmerón was taken to Managua. He has been confined in the National Seminary ever since and is not allowed to leave. USCIRF still lists him as not released.
Read the storySeminario Mayor Madre Albertina Ramírez Martínez (Diócesis de Estelí) · Uso autorizado Bishop Abelardo Mata, bishop emeritus of Estelí: his whereabouts and situation remain unverified
Police detained Bishop Juan Abelardo Mata on June 29, 2026. According to La Prensa, he has been held under house arrest ever since; his whereabouts could not be independently verified. The IACHR and the Inter-American Court demand that Nicaragua report on his situation. The October 1 deadline has passed, and there is no verifiable public response from the regime.
Read the storyFoto cedida · Uso autorizado International bodies demand information and the release of Bishop Mata
The IACHR, the Inter-American Court, the UN and the U.S. State Department have spoken out on the case of Bishop Juan Abelardo Mata. Here is what each said, with its date and source.
Read the storyPope Leo XIV receives report on religious persecution in Nicaragua
On October 2, 2025, Pope Leo XIV received the report "Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church?" from human rights defender Muriel Sáenz during the Jubilee of Migrants at the Vatican.
Read the story
In the press
Reports from other outlets, with our own summary. The link goes to the original source.
Infobae (EFE) ·
Los nicaragüenses honran a sus difuntos con flores, velas, oraciones, música y recuerdos
According to the outlet, All Souls' Day 2026 passed without Masses in Nicaragua's cemeteries for the fourth year in a row, because the authorities keep the ban on religious celebrations in those places. The report says neither the Episcopal Conference nor the Government has confirmed or denied the measure. Even so, families turned out in large numbers to clean and decorate graves, light candles and pray.
Read on Infobae (EFE)Infobae ·
La Santa Sede posterga hasta 2027 la visita de los obispos nicaragüenses prevista para octubre en Roma
According to the outlet, the Holy See postponed the ad limina visit of Nicaragua's bishops, planned for October, until 2027 because of a lack of "appropriate conditions," according to the president of the Episcopal Conference, Bishop Carlos Herrera. The report reflects the fear that bishops who leave the country may not be allowed back, leaving several dioceses without pastors. It notes that four bishops are in exile and that the last visit took place in 2017.
Read on InfobaeInfobae ·
Iglesia católica espera autorización para celebrar misas en cementerios de Nicaragua el 2 de noviembre
According to the outlet, researcher Martha Patricia Molina reported that the Catholic Church still had no permission to celebrate Masses in cemeteries on November 2 and that the decision rests with the ruling couple. The report explains that some processions were allowed in October, but "supervised and co-organized" with ruling-party structures. Molina counts at least 315 exiled priests and women religious and ordinations banned in four dioceses.
Read on InfobaeEWTN News Español ·
Obispo de Nicaragua: Santa Sede pospuso la visita ad limina por falta de «condiciones apropiadas»
According to the outlet, Bishop Carlos Herrera, president of the Episcopal Conference, said the Holy See postponed the ad limina visit of the Nicaraguan bishops to next year, with no date set. Two exiled priests explained that the bishops cannot safely leave because they might not be allowed back in. The report also recalls that the emeritus bishop of Estelí, Bishop Juan Abelardo Mata, was detained and, according to the outlet, is confined to his home in Tisma.
Read on EWTN News EspañolLa Prensa (Nicaragua) ·
Padre Rafael Aragón: «La aparente libertad religiosa es una fachada para la comunidad internacional»
According to the outlet, at the IACHR hearing of October 26 in Panama, Fr. Rafael Aragón said the recent procession permits aim to project respect for religious freedom while the regime keeps control over faith. Participants cited 43 properties tied to the Catholic Church confiscated by June 2026 and at least 394 priests and women religious expelled, exiled or barred from entering. The report also reviews the detention of Bishop Abelardo Mata and the provisional measures of the Inter-American Court.
Read on La Prensa (Nicaragua)Confidencial (EFE) ·
Dictadura proyecta una «fachada» de libertad religiosa en Nicaragua
According to the outlet, which publishes an EFE dispatch, civil society organizations and exiled priests told the IACHR that the Ortega-Murillo government keeps restricting religious freedom while projecting an image of respect abroad. The reported facts include attacks on churches, seizure of religious property, cancellation of legal status, arbitrary detentions and disappearances. A CEJIL representative said the selective permission of some processions is used to instill fear.
Read on Confidencial (EFE)La Prensa (Nicaragua) ·
De Waspam a una parroquia en Florida: el inesperado exilio de un sacerdote misquito
Father Rodolfo French Naar, a Miskito priest banished by the regime in 2024, becomes administrator of St. Raphael parish in Lehigh Acres, Florida, on October 19, appointed by the Bishop of Venice. According to the report, he had been parochial vicar there and says his heart remains in Nicaragua.
Read on La Prensa (Nicaragua)Artículo 66 ·
Papa León XIV recibe al presidente de la Conferencia Episcopal de Nicaragua
According to the outlet, the Pope received Bishop Carlos Enrique Herrera of Jinotega, banished and president of the bishops’ conference. The Vatican confirmed the audience without detailing the topics. The piece includes the view of Martha Patricia Molina, who sees the meeting as a chance to lay out the Church’s situation.
Read on Artículo 66ACI Prensa / EWTN News ·
El Papa León XIV recibe al presidente de los obispos de Nicaragua
Leo XIV received Bishop Carlos Herrera of Jinotega, president of the bishops’ conference. The Holy See gave no details of the talks. The report notes that four Nicaraguan bishops live in exile.
Read on ACI Prensa / EWTN NewsAleteia ·
Los obispos de Nicaragua, país con persecución religiosa, de visita en Roma
Ten bishops travel to Rome the week of October 12 for the ad limina visit. The report reviews the tension with the regime and says diplomatic relations with the Holy See are suspended.
Read on AleteiaLa Prensa (Nicaragua) ·
León XIV se reúne con Carlos Herrera, obispo exiliado y presidente de la CEN
This is the fullest report on the meeting. It says Herrera made no statements and that researcher Martha Patricia Molina sees the audience as a chance to inform the Pope about the persecution.
Read on La Prensa (Nicaragua)Infobae ·
Murillo se atribuye un papel de sacerdotisa tras años de restricciones religiosas en Nicaragua
Rosario Murillo says the government tolerates all beliefs and highlights recent short processions. The report recalls that international bodies document years of bans, expulsions and confiscations.
Read on InfobaeInfobae ·
Procesiones católicas vuelven poco a poco a las calles nicaragüenses bajo la supervisión del régimen Ortega-Murillo
According to the opposition Gran Confederación, some Managua parishes resumed processions. The measure was not made official and each route requires coordination with ruling-party structures.
Read on InfobaeACI Prensa / EWTN News ·
Los tiranos surgen cuando los domina “el deseo enfermizo de poder”, advierte obispo nicaragüense
Bishop Silvio Báez, in exile since 2019, preached in Miami on the murderous tenants of the vineyard. He said the lust for power leads tyrants to rule through fear.
Read on ACI Prensa / EWTN NewsVida Nueva Digital ·
Martha Patricia Molina denuncia que el régimen nicaragüense solo busca “confundir” tras permitir una procesión
The government allowed a Marian procession in Matagalpa on September 24, the first in seven years according to the piece. Molina argues it is propaganda in the face of international pressure and that one procession is not religious freedom. According to her, 407 parishes still cannot hold them and 315 priests and nuns remain in exile.
Read on Vida Nueva DigitalInfobae ·
El régimen nicaragüense abre algunas actividades eclesiales, pero conserva las restricciones en 407 parroquias
Some mass activities were partially authorized without lifting the measures on 407 parishes. Martha Patricia Molina argues it is not a real change: surveillance, seized accounts and the exile of priests continue.
Read on InfobaeInfobae ·
Obispo Silvio Báez alerta sobre Nicaragua: “los poderes totalitarios pueden amenazar, espiar, encarcelar y exiliar a miembros de la Iglesia, pero no podrán vencerla”
In a Sunday homily, Bishop Báez said the greatest risk for the Church is internal fear, more than repression, and that it will resist if it keeps its autonomy and its ability to denounce abuses.
Read on InfobaeCOPE ·
Martha Patricia Molina, exiliada nicaragüense denuncia la desaparición de su obispo por parte del régimen: "Nadie lo ha visto, nadie ha hablado con él"
In an interview on Mediodía COPE, Molina says Bishop Emeritus Juan Abelardo Mata of Estelí has been disappeared since late June, after celebrating Mass in his former diocese. She also criticizes the international community’s “double standard”.
Read on COPEInfobae ·
Sacerdote nicaragüense exiliado en Costa Rica: orden de captura, huida de madrugada y una promesa íntima de volver a ver a su madre
A priest who asked not to be named says he left Nicaragua in early 2024 after an arrest warrant and now serves a parish in Costa Rica. He describes surveillance and the recording of his homilies. According to the Costa Rican bishops’ conference, cited in the piece, about 25 exiled Nicaraguan priests live there.
Read on InfobaeInfovaticana ·
Ortega recrudece la persecución contra la Iglesia: detienen dos veces en un día al obispo Abelardo Mata
According to the outlet, 80-year-old Bishop Mata was arrested again after presiding at a Mass for the persecuted Church and placed under house arrest; a pastor and a deacon were detained and released. Molina told ACI Prensa that repression has shifted to summonses, interrogations and constant surveillance.
Read on Infovaticana100% Noticias ·
Sacerdote nicaragüense exiliado es ordenado en Miami tras persecución contra la Iglesia
Cristhian David Mendieta, from La Concepción (Masaya), was ordained a priest on May 9 at St. Mary Cathedral in Miami by Archbishop Thomas Wenski. The piece cites Molina’s report, according to which more than 300 religious no longer carry out pastoral work in Nicaragua.
Read on 100% NoticiasInfobae ·
Régimen de Daniel Ortega incrementa la presión contra la Iglesia Católica en Nicaragua
According to Molina, police visit churches daily to photograph and record Mass-goers, and control of patron-saint festivals and processions has passed to public institutions. She reports more exiles of bishops, priests, deacons and nuns, and tax pressure on parishes.
Read on InfobaeInfobae ·
Procesiones prohibidas y sacerdotes vigilados: Nicaragua vive una nueva Semana Santa bajo un fuerte asedio de la dictadura
The piece describes a Holy Week without public processions and with services inside churches watched by police. Priests consulted, who asked for anonymity, say they must report their movements and homilies daily. It cites the figures from Molina’s report through July 2025.
Read on InfobaeACI Prensa / EWTN News ·
Hasta Semana Santa, la dictadura de Nicaragua habrá prohibido más de 27.000 procesiones en 7 años
According to Molina, between 2019 and Holy Week 2026 the regime will have banned more than 27,000 processions and popular-piety events, by police decision. In Lent 2026 alone she counts 5,726 bans across 409 parishes.
Read on ACI Prensa / EWTN NewsZENIT ·
El exilio como política: Nicaragua expulsa a otro sacerdote mientras se intensifica la presión sobre la Iglesia Católica
Father José Concepción Reyes Mairena, of the Diocese of León, was forced to leave the country hours after returning. Citing Molina: 309 priests and religious exiled, expelled or denied entry, and four dioceses without a resident bishop. ZENIT also cites 1,070 attacks since 2018 according to her August report.
Read on ZENIT
The voice of the bishops
What the bishops say about the persecution and where to follow them. The links go to their official profile; this site loads nothing from those networks until you go there.
Official profiles
- Bishop Silvio BáezAuxiliary bishop of Managua, in exileX · @silviojbaez
- Bishop Silvio BáezHis Facebook pageFacebook · sj.baez
- Pope Leo XIVOfficial account of the Holy FatherX · @Pontifex
- Episcopal Conference of NicaraguaOfficial pageFacebook · CENicaragua
- Archdiocese of ManaguaInstitutional accountX · @arquimanagua
What Bishop Báez posts
Our own summaries; the link goes to the source.
@silviojbaez · April 26, 2026
He shares the video of his homily for the fourth Sunday of Easter, in which, according to EWTN, he called the powerful who steal freedom today’s “thieves and bandits.”
See the post on X@silviojbaez · August 15, 2024
He spreads the demand of the Jesuits of Central America one year after the UCA was confiscated: justice, an end to repression and freedom for political prisoners.
See the post on X@silviojbaez · December 6, 2022
On the eve of La Gritería he prays to the Virgin for Bishop Rolando Álvarez, then imprisoned, and joins the people of Nicaragua in demanding his release.
See the post on X@silviojbaez · April 10, 2019
He announces that Pope Francis asked him to go to Rome for a while, the start of his exile, and says he carries his people’s sorrows and hopes in his heart.
See the post on X
What they have said
Our own summaries; the link goes to the source.
Mons. Silvio Báez · August 2026
At a Mass in Miami he asked the faithful to keep a “spiritual rebellion” against the dictator who “thinks himself eternal.”
Read on ACI Prensa / EWTNMons. Silvio Báez · August 2026
From exile he said totalitarian powers can threaten, spy on, imprison and exile members of the Church, but will not defeat it.
Read on InfobaeMons. Rolando Álvarez · April 2026
From Rome, in a homily, he spoke of “false shepherds”: priests aligned with the regime who stay silent in exchange for money or protection.
Read on Artículo 66