November 3:
The Secretary of State goes on Thursday to Chiapas for the
registration of the Diocese as a Religious Association and will
later meet with Don Samuel.
The paper also reports, without citing its sources, that the
Vatican congregation for Bishops, headed by Cardinal Gantin had
verbally asked for the resignation of Don Samuel for the errors
cited by the Nuncio. Don Samuel did not do so and will now
appeal to the Vatican by legal process.
It also reports that a letter signed by 20,000 indigenous persons
from Chiapas was sent to the Pope asking that Don Samuel may
continue as Bishop of the Diocese.
The paper offered a brief recap of the recent history of the
diocese:
There have been a constant series of confrontations between the
State Government and the Diocese since 1988. In that year,
Patrocinio Gonzalez Garrido became state governor and Don Samuel
Ruiz established the Center for Human Rights, Friar Bartolomew de
las Casas. The first public confrontation occurred on the 14th
March, 1990 when state police violently evicted farm workers from
the Municipality of Ocosingo. Don Samuel publicly denounced
police repression against the people. The police some time later
arrested two workers from the Human Rights Center and then
accused a Belgian priest, Marcelo Rotsaet, who was working in the
diocese of being the intellectual author of land take-overs and
of inciting Guatemalan refugees to participate in the Guatemalan
guerrilla movement. Although the charges were never proved, he
was relieved of his migration papers and sent to Mexico City
where he was placed "incommunicado" for 40 hours before being
expelled from the country.
In the beginning of September that same year, in a tense
atmosphere between the Diocese and the State Government, Don
Samuel in a press conference in Mexico City said that Chiapas was
the state where Human Rights are most violated in the whole
country. On the 18th of September, judicial police arrested Joel
Padron, the parish priest of Simojovel, accusing him of sundry
crimes such as robbery, threatening, illegal possession of fire
arms and "gang-making". The diocese organized a series of
"pilgrimages" demanding his release and he was finally released
on the 6th November as a result of direct intervention by Federal
courts.
On the 23rd of September, 8 more farm workers are detained during
a march in Palenque. On the 26th., 300 indigenous people were
forcibly removed from a "sit-in" in front of the Mayor's office
as protest against the arrest of the 8. 102 of them were jailed,
including the Jesuit Priest, Jeronimo Hernandez who was released
the next day.
As a protest for this latest series of jailings, and demanding
the fulfillment of government promises for public works, over 50
indigenous people from various indigenous groups made a march
from Palenque to Mexico City, a month and a half's walk. This
was the beginning of the movement Xi'Nich. This march concluded
with successful negotiations with the then Secretary of State,
the release of the imprisoned and guarantees of respect for their
rights and the fulfillment of some of the promises for public
works.
During all this time, Don Samuel was subjected to a prolonged
campaign of defamation, one of which was a public advertisement
in local and national newspapers, paid for by the wealthy land
owners in Chiapas demanding that the Pope should remove him from
office. This was immediately prior to the Pope's visit to Mexico
in May, 1990.
In December, two catechists from the diocese were arrested and
this resulted in another "sit-in" in front of the Cathedral of
San Cristobal and another "pilgrimage" demanding their release.
In January, 1993, Patrocinio Gonzalez is given the post of
Secretary of State and Elmar Setzer is appointed as interim
Governor. The level of conflict reduced dramatically, but not
totally. The Mayor of San Cristobal, in a press communique
accused the bishop of being a "guerrilla and of wanting to de-
stabilize the government of Setzer".
November 4th.
In letters to the Editor, the paper publishes a letter from the
movement Xi'Nich in which they say that Don Samuel, "has always
accompanied us in our sufferings and pain. . . . Before he came,
no-one taught us the teachings of Jesus . . . when he visited us,
he would walk kilometers, crossing mountains, in the rain,
walking through mud and the blessed heat of the sun during those
long walks. . . . We want to say that his courageous word of
denunciation of everything that means death to the people and he
does not deserve the pressures being placed upon him by the
Government and authorities in order to rid him of his duty of
service. We reject that repression and marginalization that they
want to work against our bishop and we beg you, tatic (father)
Bishop, don't be sad and don't feel alone."
Speaking with other tones, Ernesto Cardinal Corripio, Primate
Archbishop of Mexico City commented on the case. "That problem
is the Nuncio's, given that he himself says that they sent him a
letter. Therefore, it is he who has to decide and inform." He
further said that the position of the Mexican Episcopal
Conference (CEM) was for the President of the Conference to
decide. (A possible reference to declarations of the
spokesperson of the Conference during the week, accusing Don
Samuel of doctrinal error.)
The secretary general of CELAM, Latin American Conference of
Bishops, Raymundo Damasceno Asis said that the case was within
the competence of the CEM and only as a last resort should the
mediation of the nunciature be sought.
On the other hand, the Nuncio denied that he had sought the
Bishop's resignation and said that there was no "bad faith" in
the Mexican Hierarchy against Samuel Ruiz. Niceforo Guerrero
Reynoso, director of Religious Affairs of the State Department,
for his part said that Don Samuel had done some very important
work in Chiapas and repeated that State had not sought his
removal.
We finish, giving Don Samuel the final words. In a mass to
celebrate his 69th birthday, he said, "Legally, I continue to be
the Bishop of San Cristobal de las Casas, . . . from time to time
over the 34 years there have been noises about my remaining as
head of the diocese . . . there have been groups that have gone
to the Nunciature and even to the Vatican . . . what is happening
today is nothing new."