The Holy See has decided to delay until 2027 the ad limina visit of Nicaragua's bishops to Rome, originally scheduled for October. The move was taken because of the absence of "appropriate conditions" for members of the Nicaraguan Episcopal Conference, according to its president, Carlos Enrique Herrera Gutiérrez, bishop of Jinotega and one of the prelates living outside the country.
- No new date: the fresh summons for the ad limina visit still lacks a defined date.
- Core reason: the Vatican judged that conditions were not in place to gather the entire Nicaraguan episcopate in Rome.
- Re-entry risk: there are fears that bishops remaining in Nicaragua might not be allowed back if they leave.
- Background: the last visit by Nicaraguan bishops to the Vatican took place in 2017.
A suspended meeting with no new date
The news was reported by La Mesa Redonda, which cited Herrera's remarks to EWTN News Español. The prelate said the new convocation does not yet have a set date. The visit was meant to let the bishops present the situation of their dioceses to Pope Leo XIV and hold meetings with bodies of the Roman Curia.
The decision confirmed the postponement of a gathering the Holy See had already suspended during October. As La Mesa Redonda previously reported, the meeting did not take place because the Vatican considered that conditions were not met to bring the whole Nicaraguan episcopate together in Rome.
Fear of being unable to return
The main factor behind the delay is the risk that bishops still in Nicaragua could be barred from re-entering the country if they travel to the Vatican. A priest still exercising his ministry on Nicaraguan soil, cited anonymously for security reasons, warned that a joint departure could leave the local Church without its main pastoral authorities.
"If someone leaves, it is possible they will not be allowed back," the cleric said, according to La Mesa Redonda.
The concern focuses on the possibility that a refusal of re-entry would affect dioceses whose titular bishops still reside inside the country. The priest argued that such a measure could leave several ecclesiastical jurisdictions without bishops. For that reason, he considered postponing the trip a prudent decision given the situation facing members of the Episcopal Conference.
What the ad limina visit entails
The ad limina apostolorum visit is a periodic obligation for the bishops of each country. During these encounters, prelates report to the Holy See on the religious, administrative and pastoral situation of their dioceses, and also hold an audience with the pope. The last visit by Nicaraguan bishops to the Vatican was in 2017, according to researcher Martha Patricia Molina.
An episcopate fragmented by exile
The crisis of the Nicaraguan Catholic Church includes the exile of four bishops. Among them are Herrera; Silvio Báez, auxiliary bishop of Managua; Rolando Álvarez, bishop of Matagalpa and apostolic administrator of Estelí; and Isidoro Mora, bishop of Siuna.
Herrera was expelled from Nicaragua in November 2024. Mora and Álvarez were expelled in January 2024, while Báez has lived outside the country since 2019. The split between exiled bishops and those still in Nicaragua makes a joint visit to Rome difficult.
The situation also affects the dioceses of Jinotega, Siuna, Matagalpa and Estelí, where Church sources have denounced restrictions on ordaining deacons and priests because of the absence of their titular bishops. Add to that the case of Abelardo Mata, bishop emeritus of Estelí, 80, who remains under restrictions at his home in Masaya, according to information disseminated by La Mesa Redonda.
The decision to postpone the trip leaves without a date the formal meeting between the Nicaraguan bishops as a whole and Leo XIV. Herrera had already held a private audience with the pontiff on October 12, before the postponement of the collective visit was confirmed. The delay prolongs uncertainty over how full institutional contact between the Nicaraguan episcopate and the Holy See will be restored, in a context marked by the exile of several prelates and the limitations facing dioceses still operating inside the country.