Nicaragua says 80-year-old bishop returned, says missing

An 80-year-old retired bishop in Nicaragua is missing after a series of detentions by authorities, with his family and church sources unable to verify his condition or whereabouts despite a government statement claiming he was returned home. Bishop Abelardo Mata Guevara, the emeritus Bishop of Estelí, was first detained on June 29 following a Mass he celebrated on June 28 at the Cruz del Calvario parish in Estelí, where he prayed for the persecuted Catholic Church in Nicaragua.

According to accounts from church sources and human rights monitoring groups, Mata’s initial detention occurred after he attended a medical appointment for a pacemaker checkup. He was briefly released but detained again that same day and transferred to a police facility in Managua before being taken to his residence in Tisma, Masaya, under constant police surveillance. A third detention was reported on the morning of July 2, after which the monitoring group Monitoreo Azul y Blanco stated he entered a condition of enforced disappearance, with no official information on his location or health.

On July 4, hours after the United States called for Mata’s immediate and unconditional release, Nicaragua’s...