Monsignor Leonidas Proaño (Part II)
The objectives of this plan were:
1. Work on building the Church, from the poor and the poor, to be community, people of God, expressive sign of the Kingdom, and
2. Provide everything possible to build a new society that is foretaste of the Kingdom of God on Earth.
whole process was gone through actions and proposals, creative and prophetic as the creation of missionary pastoral teams constituted with farmers, community leaders, catechists and educators in the faith, indigenous missionaries, the constitution of the Traveling Missionary Team, Ecclesial Communities Base, the creation of the Home of Santa Cruz soon became the center where they promoted discussion of theses processors and encouraged dialogue between the sectors involved in the transformation of reality, both Ecuador and Latin America.
He formed the Pastoral Coordination Team, and defined a "new way" to be a bishop, a new style of priestly formation and new thinking on Being and Doing Church.
created the Diocesan Pastoral Institute under the guidance of American theologians undertook the organization of courses for pastoral agents and the Theological Training Center to complete the pastoral training of young aspirants to the priesthood, before resolving its management to serve the Diocese.
Thus prepared the necessary resources to address two images from that time prevailing in the Latin American Church: the Church and the Church Conservative modernized, to make way for the Village Church of God in March that is the one lived in Riobamba.
parallel with this, he worked in the Latin American process, to promote substantial changes in the Church. Was decisive participation in the meeting of CELAM in Medellín in September 1968, which allowed concrete and put in "American version" the fresh impetus of Vatican II.
The 60's was the decade of revolutionary turmoil in Latin America. There had been the Cuban Revolution, Camilo Torres, guerrilla priest, had died in combat and Che, by order of the CIA, was killed in Bolivia.
This was the process of liberation in Latin America when there was the Second General Conference of Bishops in Medellín, and its impact on this process was enormous. Based upon a recognition of reality by stating that on the continent, the situation is very painful for the presence of: illiteracy, ignorance, poverty, misery, hunger, disease, injustice, domination and slavery.
The Medellin Conference, in his message to the peoples of Latin America among other things said:
"As Christians, we believe that this historic step Latin America is tied intimately to the history of salvation.
As Pastors, we want to engage with the lives of all our peoples in the anxious search for adequate solutions to their many problems.
We believe we are in a new historical era. It requires clarity to see, insight to diagnose and solidarity to act.
In light of the faith we profess as Christians, we have made an effort to discover God's plan in the "signs of our times." We interpret the aspirations and cries of Latin America are signs that show the orientation of the plan.
Our contribution is not intended to compete with efforts solution of other national, Latin American and world, much less reject them or know. Our purpose is to encourage the efforts to accelerate the achievements, deepen the content of them penetrate the whole process of change with Gospel values.
would like to offer the collaboration of Christians, urged by their baptismal responsibilities and the seriousness of the moment. Us all to make clear the strength of the Gospel, which is the power of God.
We have no technical solutions or infallible remedies. We feel the problems, perceive their needs, share the anguish, to discover ways and collaborate on solutions. "
To develop actions for renewal of the Church, in 1969, CELAM (Latin American Episcopal Council) elected Bishop Proaño Chairman, Department of Pastoral de Conjunto and from there he organized the Pastoral Institute Traveling in Latin America (IPLA) whose fruits was scattered across the continent.
Latin America continued at a stage of ferment and social movements proliferated. It was stated that the continent of hope. But the response of power and the Empire was overwhelming. The international politics of Nixon and his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger while specially dedicated to Asia, Latin America did not fail. The democratic way to socialism opprobrious resulted in military dictatorships in the Southern Cone and Central America deepened the repression in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala to stop the infighting. The spirit of solidarity Proaño Bishop also expressed in the Latin American peoples struggle through the creation of the Solidarity Front of Chimborazo, where an entire articulated work of solidarity, commitment and support to legitimate causes.
With this same church and internationalist vocation at church stood in solidarity with Archbishop Romero, with whom he worked in Puebla. Opened the doors of his diocese for several priests and pastoral agents Salvadorans who had been threatened death, could obtain shelter, and continue training and participate in pastoral activities.
After the assassination of Archbishop Romero, with Bishop Sergio Méndez Arceo, patriarch of solidarity, founded SICSAL, entity solidarity with the people in struggle. Its main bases, Romero Committees have spread across all continents to come to Japan and Australia today.
As I mentioned, his pastoral work developed in a conservative society with a backward and landed class who rejected modernity. Feudal relations still remained in the field until shortly before the sale of livestock farms were included and the Indians. Thence to work with these objectives during the seventies, was a source of many conflicts.
"The Church of Riobamba owned considerable areas of land as heir of postcolonial systems. It was a shame. But the reality was that. " Proaño Bishop in his diocese, got rid of all the properties and purified and the face of a church, secular stained with the mark of great landowner on the basis of the plunder to its rightful owners.
And so with a clean face, could be next to the 'poorest of the poor' in their just struggle to reclaim their land rights. "
Delivery land caused a great scandal. The design of the dominant classes, private property was almost a sacred right (dear God) and attack was to destroy the morale and undermine the foundations of society. "Only an atheist can ask to destroy the foundation of society, religion and the Church" pointed with a flourish.
In support of his pastoral work, he created the Popular Radio Schools, for literacy and awareness among the Indians and that he said "It is essential to educate the people, it is essential that this education does not remain a domestication, but a man's promotion in all its capacities "
It was inevitable. Land problems soon appeared in the diocese. The landowners were protected unconditionally for Power and guarded by the forces of "order." The repressed state of the army and the police struggle of peasants for land. Only in 1974, several Indians were killed, including Christopher leaders Pajunen, 18 May 1974 and Lázaro Condo Toctezinin ranch in the September 25, 1974.
Thus the work of Bishop Proaño pastoral field inevitably passed into the realm of politics and the state could not tolerate when he defied their own structures.
maximum expression State response occurred when the August 12, 1976 the military dictatorship of the time violently raided the home of Santa Cruz when conducting a meeting for an exchange of pastoral experiences, a diagnostic assay for the American situation America and seek pastoral projections. The 55 attendees, including 17 bishops, were taken into police buses to the city of Quito and the foreigners immediately expelled from Ecuador. This was not an isolated action of the dictatorship. Soon after, the CIA would know how to act and the rule to "take care" not to riot their backyard. Those were the days when Henry Kissinger, as Secretary State handled foreign policy and personally attended to the relationship with Latin America.
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