Samuel Ruiz

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Samuel Ruiz García
Gregorian University
(PhD)
Samuel Ruiz Garcia with Atenco militants

Samuel Ruiz García (3 November 1924 – 24 January 2011) was a

indigenous populations of Chiapas. Inspired by Liberation Theology, which swept through the Catholic Church in Latin America after the 1960s, Ruiz's diocese helped some hundreds of thousands of indigenous Maya people in Chiapas who were among Mexico's poorest marginalized communities.[1]

Early life and seminary

Samuel Ruiz García was the first of five children, born on 3 November 1924 in

Guanajuato, Mexico, to Guadalupe García, who worked as a maid for upper-class families, and Maclovio Ruiz Mejía, an agricultural worker.[2]: 20  Ruiz grew up as a Catholic in a modest family during the Cristero War
, a time in which the Church was being persecuted and many were killed or assassinated in Mexico by the anti-Catholic ruling government.

At the age of fifteen, Ruiz completed high school and

priesthood.[2]
: 21 

Priesthood

After receiving his doctorate in philosophy and theology from Gregorian University, Ruiz returned to Guanajuato where he taught at the León seminary.[3] In 1960, Ruiz was consecrated bishop of the Diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas of Chiapas Mexico, where he remained until he retired in 2000.[4] San Cristóbal de las Cases is made up mostly of the highlands of Chiapas, comprising largely poor, indigenous communities who speak a variety of Mayan languages.[5]

In his early years as bishop, Ruiz subscribed to traditional views of the Church and

civilizing” the Indians.[6]
: 72 

Not long after arriving in San Cristóbal, Ruiz set out on a mule to tour his diocese, visiting every town and village over which he held

inculturated
approach to indigenous Catholicism and evangelization.

Ruiz "learned to speak four Mayan languages."[7]

Vatican II (1962-1965)

In 1962, the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) convened, focusing on the social responsibility of Christians and on opening the Church to theological development and dialogue. Vatican II encouraged that sermons be translated and read to communities in their local languages and that the Church be more involved in addressing social problems,[8] such as those occurring in Central and South America.[9] For Ruiz, his participation in the Second Vatican Council allowed time for reflection on the decisions and actions carried out under his administration, which brought him a long way from the somewhat naïve enthusiasm which he'd had during his first years as bishop.[2]: 25  It was Vatican II which inspired Ruiz to translate scripture into local indigenous languages and into practice, with an emphasis on inculturation.

Medellín Conference (1968)

In 1967, Bishop Ruiz became the president of the Mexican Bishop's Committee on Indigenous Peoples (CEPI), and in 1968 he was named the president of the Department of Missions of

guerrilla groups
.

Changes in the Diocese of Chiapas in light of Liberation Theology

The diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas (Chiapas), under Samuel Ruiz's direction, began to redefine evangelization methods and to abandon the traditional approach of

base communities, which built the framework for reflection and collective action.[6]: 72  Indigenous poor no longer accepted the "low wages they earned on plantations, the lack of security in their land titles, the corruption of government agencies, and the abuses of merchants and landowners", instead using "their religious faith and interpretation of the Bible to create concrete solutions to immediate problems".[9]

Felix Parra

In 1989, Bishop Ruiz founded the Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Rights Center to push back against increasing violence against indigenous and campesino activists in his diocese.[12]

Mediation

This

resistance movements. The indigenous started to realize that the cause of their poverty was their lack of freedom and democracy, a repression
that grew out of the policies of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) government.

EZLN Uprising

On 1 January 1994, the date that

monopolized power for nearly 70 years, attempted to respond to the uprisings with military pressure – implementing strategies of low-intensity warfare to terrorize the civilian population that supported the Zapatistas.[2]
: 47 

Mediation

Reflecting on these events, Bishop Ruiz later explained that "It became clear that the diocese could not be absent from the situation. Our job was neither to represent the Zapatistas to the government nor to represent the government to the Zapatistas, but rather to offer a mediation in which there could be mutual confidence in talks".

constitutional recognition, but reformation of the state and systemic structures which were the root of their oppression.[13]

The military site

Once Subcomandante Marcos was identified as Rafael Guillén, on 9 February 1995, in a counterproductive turn of events, President Ernesto Zedillo made a series of decisions that completely broke with the strategy and action plan previously defined and the agreements he authorized his Secretary of Interior Lic Esteban Moctezuma to compromise with Marcos just 3 days before in Guadalupe Tepeyac. Zedillo sent the Mexican army to capture or annihilate Marcos without consulting his Secretary of Interior, without knowing exactly who Marcos was, and only with the PGR single presumption that Marcos was a dangerous guerrilla. Despite these circumstances, President Ernesto Zedillo decided to launch a military offensive to capture or annihilate Marcos.[14] Arrest warrants were issued against Marcos, Javier Elorriaga Berdegue, Silvia Fernández Hernández, Jorge Santiago, Fernando Yanez, German Vicente, Jorge Santiago and other Zapatistas. At the Lacandon Jungle, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation was then under the Mexican Army military siege. The PGR was after them. Javier Elorriaga got captured on 9 February 1995, in a military garrison at Gabina Velázquez that is in Las Margaritas, Chiapas, town and later taken to the Cerro Hueco prison in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas.[15] On 11 February 1995, the

Mexico Vatican Diplomatic relations.[19] hurt by the 24 May 1993, political assassination of a Prince of the Catholic Church, the Guadalajara, Mexico Cardinal Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo, that precisely that Agency, the PGR
, had left it unresolved..

Manuel Camacho Solis' 16 June 1994, accusations that the reason for his resignation as the Chiapas Peace Commissioner was due to sabotage done by the then presidential candidate Ernesto Zedillo
.

Under heavy political pressure of a highly radicalized situation, Mexico Secretary of the Interior Lic.

México have been activated with the Zapatistas movement, while Marcos maintains an open negotiating track. Eliminate Marcos and his social containment work will cease, giving opportunity to the radical groups to take control of the movement. They will respond to violence with violence. They would begin terrorist bombings, kidnappings, and belligerent activities. The country would be in a dangerous spiral, which could lead to very serious situations because there is discomfort not only in Chiapas but in many places in Mexico.[22]

Identity

During the investigative stage to identify

Jesuits in which they competed in Mexico. He confirmed that he had no doubt that Marcos was his friend Rafael Guillén, a pacifist.[22][26][27][28]

San Andrés Accords

National and international support of the Zapatistas' demands increased and in 1996 the

self-government. However, the proposal for the implementation of these conditions was accepted by EZLN, but refused by President Zedillo. Time showed that the effort against a military solution to the conflict and for the strategy to achieve a peaceful solution to the 1995 Zapatista Crisis was legal, politically and honorably correct, and saved many lives in Mexico.[2]

Resignation

In 1998, Bishop Samuel Ruiz resigned from his position as peace mediator, accusing the government of “

simulating” a peace process, and the committee disbanded.[13] Ruiz continued to act as a protector and supporter of Chiapas and to advocate for human rights for the indigenous until his death in 2011. Following his resignation, he was succeeded by Bishop Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel, a socially progressive supporter.[29]

Death

On 24 January 2011, at the age of 86, Samuel Ruiz García died at Hospital Ángeles del Pedregal in Mexico City, due to respiratory failure and other complications, including high blood pressure and diabetes.[29][30] During the Mass in Mexico City which commemorated Don Samuel, other bishops described Ruiz as "a person whose actions were discussed and condemned by a section of society, but for the poor and for those who worked with him, Don Samuel was a bright light".[31] Don Samuel, known as jTatic Samuel, was buried in San Cristobal de las Casas, in the cathedral, after a heartfelt and jubilant celebration of his life and ministry.

Awards

In 1996, Samuel Ruiz received the

Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award for his fight against injustice and institutionalized violence inflicted on the poor and oppressed of his diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas.[32]

In 1997, Ruiz received the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders.[33]

Samuel Ruiz was awarded the

Simon Bolivar International Prize by UNESCO in 2000 for his work to defend the indigenous peoples of Chiapas, for his role as mediator between the government and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, and for his commitment to the promotion of human rights and social justice for Latin America peoples.[34]

Samuel Ruiz was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994, 1995, and 1996 by, among others, Rigoberta Menchú and Adolfo Pérez Esquivel.[1][35]

Notes

References

  1. ^ a b c "Mexico bishop and indigenous champion Samuel Ruiz dies". BBC News. 24 January 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
  2. ^
    ISBN 9780824515768
    .
  3. ^
    ISBN 1-57075-199-4
    .
  4. ^
    ISBN 0-520-23052-3
    .: 111 
  5. ISBN 0-19-509427-1
    .
  6. ^
    ISBN 0-8223-2238-2
    .
  7. ^ Catholic News Service. "In Chiapas, Mayans get Mass, sacraments in two of their languages". Catholic Sentinel. Portland, OR. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  8. ^ "Gaudium et spes". www.vatican.va. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
  9. ^ a b Axtell, Rick (3–24 January 2013). "Liberation Theologies in Historical and Political Context". Centre College Class Lecture.
  10. ISBN 0883445425
    .
  11. ^ Ratzinger, Joseph (1984). Instruction of Certain Aspects of the "Theology of Liberation". Rome: Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
  12. ^ Michael Tangeman, Mexico at the Crossroads: Politics, the Church, and the Poor. Maryknoll NY: Orbis Books 1995, p. 72.
  13. ^ a b c d Higgins, Nick (2007). A Massacre Foretold. Brooklyn, NY: First Run/Icarus Films.
  14. ^ Dávila, Doralicia Carmona. "Memoria Política de México". www.memoriapoliticademexico.org. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
  15. ^ «La Jornada: mayo 4 de 1996»
  16. ^ Iguana, The Gainesville. "U.S. military aids Mexico's attacks on Zapatista movement". www.afn.org. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  17. ^ "La Sedena sabía de la existencia de la guerrilla chiapaneca desde 1985 (Segunda y última parte) - Proceso". Proceso (in Mexican Spanish). 20 March 2006. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  18. ^ CV, Comunicación e Información, SA de. "Hemeroteca Proceso". hemeroteca.proceso.com.mx (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 August 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ Jornada, La. "A 15 años de relaciones entre México y el Vaticano - La Jornada". www.jornada.unam.mx. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  20. ^ México, El Universal, Compañia Periodística Nacional. "El Universal - Opinion - Renuncia en Gobernación". www.eluniversalmas.com.mx (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 August 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  21. ^ «Tampico la conexión zapatista» Archived 3 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  22. ^ a b "Marcos, en la mira de Zedillo - Proceso". Proceso (in Mexican Spanish). 5 August 2002. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  23. ^ «El otro subcomandante» Archived 17 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  24. ^ "PGR ordena la captura y devela la identidad del Subcomandante Marcos (9 de febrero 1995)". YouTube. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  25. ^ AP Archive (23 July 2015), MEXICO: CRACKDOWN ON ZAPATISTA REBELS, archived from the original on 13 December 2021, retrieved 26 August 2018
  26. ^ "EnLineaDirecta.info -- La Única línea es que no tenemos línea". enlineadirecta.info. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  27. ^ Otra Campana Pintada de Azul»
  28. ^ CV, Comunicación e Información, SA de. "Hemeroteca Proceso". hemeroteca.proceso.com.mx (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 August 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  29. ^ a b Preston, Julia (26 January 2011). "Bishop Samuel Ruiz García, Defender of Mexico's Mayans, Dies at 86". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  30. ^ Obituary in Spanish Archived 20 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  31. ^ Agren, David (25 January 2011). "Bishop Samuel Ruiz Garcia, 86, champion of indigenous, dies in Mexico". Catholic News Service. Archived from the original on 25 January 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
  32. ^ Diocese of Davenport. "Pacem in Terris Past Recipients". Diocese of Davenport. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  33. ^ "Bishop Msg. Samuel Ruiz Garcia - 1997". The Martin Annals Award for Human Rights Defenders. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  34. ^ "2000 - Samuel Ruiz García". United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  35. ^ "Bishop Samuel Ruiz asked for Immediate Resignation". Inter Press Service News Agency. 24 February 1999. Retrieved 12 October 2012.

External links

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