USA: House of Representatives and Senate. Photo: Mundo.es

Ortega Regime Seizes Matagalpa Diocese Headquarters in Latest Attack on Nicaragua’s Catholic Church

The confiscation of the curia is widely seen as an extension of the Ortega regime’s vendetta against Bishop Rolando Álvarez, the exiled leader of the diocese. Arrested in 2022 after a two-week police raid on churches in Matagalpa, Álvarez was sentenced in 2023 to 26 years in prison on charges of “treason.” Stripped of his Nicaraguan citizenship, he became stateless in a blatant violation of international law.

This Is How Religious Persecution Has Increased in Nicaragua So Far in 2025, with the Government’s Insults to the Vatican

Since 2019, 11,763 processions have been banned or supressed by Daniel Ortega’s regime in Nicaragua. Since then, harassment and restrictions on religious freedom have prevented public religious demonstrations, such as processions or the open-air Via Crucis during Holy Week. In 2024, 4,800 processions were cancelled.