Monsignor Leonidas Proaño
Nidia Arrobo
Rhodes "I am a voice crying in the wilderness"
"All are in mortal sin and live and die in it, the cruelty and tyranny that you use on these innocent people. Tell me, what right and justice do you in such cruel and horrible servitude to those Indians? "By what authority have you waged such detestable wars on these people who were all calm and peaceful land where infinite numbers of them, with death and destruction never heard, you have consumed? How do you have so oppressed and weary, without food or cure their disease, that of excessive work and give them incur ye die, and rather, the killing, to extract and acquire gold every day? What care do you indoctrinate them and who know their God and Creator ...?
Are these not men? Do not have rational souls? Are you not obliged to love them as yourselves? Does it not understand? Does not this feel? How are you so deep in sleep so lethargic sleep? Be certain, that the state you are you can not save ... "
This is an excerpt from the sermon of Fray Antón Montesinos, delivered a Sunday of Advent 1511.
Thus began almost five centuries of domination suffered by Latin America and so we reach a situation experienced by indigenous to the third part of the twentieth century.
Leonardo Boff argues that in colonial times, the throne and the altar, the colonizer and the missionary undertook a unique project and established the new political and religious. Impero the gospel of power, not the power of the gospel. evangelizing strategy from a position of power, prevailed for centuries and still prevails in the Vatican and, to some extent, also in the other great historic churches. It is an imperial vision of the mission because the goal is to incorporate new Christians into the history of Christians in the central countries, where Christianity first penetrated.
CONTEXT:
Bishop Leonidas Proaño, as bishop was a feudal province of Chimborazo, racist, medieval mentality. Social class and the well established roles in the colony first and the formation of the republic after remained intact: the landlords were the "bosses" and the Indians "the serfs." So
was the expression of a system of domination which began with the conquest was consolidated with the indoctrination and solidified with the colony.
process in Ecuador was special. According Comblin produced independence in the mid nineteenth century "Romanized" the church against modernity. "Changed the episcopate by placing people in the same struggle that concentrated a strong conservative power, which led to a backlash liberal who later became a conservative backlash."
Ecuador dominant sectors have traditionally been very conservative and not connected to modernity. In 1963, a process driven from the U.S. Together to modify the relations of backwardness in the field was aborted due to pressure from landowners sectors. Only in the year 1968 was issued the first law of abolition of casual employment in agriculture, which allowed the Indians to keep the property tied for life to have free labor.
In this context the figure of Archbishop Proaño and quickly became a sign of contradiction: it was against an anti-century modernity. True to the method
See, Judge and Act and to define what would be his pastoral. See route began with the Diocese and found, as main problem, how bad they were distributed lands and rich church loomed as the lands he possessed, delivered by ridiculous rents to landlords.
"The people of the Diocese of Riobamba, in two thirds, was made by Indians. I found that their situation was deplorable, from every point of view: economic, social, educational, political, religious. They lived in utter misery, were the victims of contempt of the world, only 8% had gone through school until second or third grade, who are illiterate were not recognized by law as citizens, they were terribly marginalized by society and even by the Church. The fundamental rights of the people were cruel and permanently stamped on. "
was then conceived the need for action by joining the faith and politics. "You have to walk on two feet: one foot in the Fe and another in politics and one foot in the gospel and other popular organizations." With these premises, began to prepare his Pastoral Plan, including the process to the Indians themselves.
The judge would take to define the broad lines of action, establishing "a comparison between what is and what it should be, between that reality and the Plan of God" implies an attitude of deep faith and life of America, for receive God's plan and should be. For
raised face reality "acting": "... I started looking for ways to respond to major problems of the people, especially farmers. "In 1954, not yet recognized the identity of indigenous peoples and peasants were called as living in the countryside and, on the part of powers, with the desire to assimilate to other human groups who lived and live in the countryside. Without acknowledging his identity is not valued their culture, or accept its values, even worse their historical, especially the right to land. Monsignor discover, little by little, that "these" farmers are descendants of the indigenous peoples, early settlers of our Continent subjects ancestral rights.
WHAT TO ADDRESS THE REALITY?
The reality of the Indians of Chimborazo, beyond any rational possibility of understanding. Proaño Bishop defined the problem of the Indian as "complex and formidable," and it said, "no how, or want to give partial solutions." Is that from the outset clearly saw that the problem would be settled with partial solutions, or with isolated pastoral action of the Diocese of Riobamba, and running the risk of becoming welfare action.
Thus as soon as he was appointed bishop decides to depart performance dramatically "Constantine" of the Church in Latin America was based on clericalism, in collusion with power, giving priority to the temple, sacramentalism, indoctrination and proselytism ... before seeking the Kingdom of God His Justice. To control the state of affairs was set up the triangle of power: the cure, the landlord and the sheriff (representative of the State). Monsignor Leonidas Proaño
participated in the Second Vatican Council and provided on the basis of the experiences of their work in Chimborazo, with its theological insights and pastoral reflections were key to the tenets of what would the new American church.
The transforming power that the new church was with Vatican II decisively promoted the efforts of Bishop Proaño to transform the Church of Riobamba and contribute to the renewal of the Church in Latin America. "I realized that the Church must undergo a radical transformation that the bishops should make great efforts to transform a church into an image pyramid Community Church.
realized that the priests had been hoarding all the charisms in the Church, which we had become, instead of servers, rulers of the people and that the laity were called to play a leading role "
His pastoral action took place in three closely interrelated levels, awareness, evangelism and politics. They created think tanks, mission, evangelization, pastoral, etc.., Conformed with priests, religious and, above all, lay
Riobamba
The Church began to walk led by the Pastoral Plan developed with the active participation of whom were members of the team. This was part of their deepest convictions and wrote in the paper to present at the meeting of CELAM in Medellín: "... in the true Church of Christ, all are called to be active, all servers, all builders, from the moment and the fact of having been baptized. "
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