Leonidas Proaño

Leonidas Proaño Eduardo Villalba ( born January 19, 1910 in San Antonio de Ibarra; † August 31, 1988 in Quito ) was an Ecuadorian Roman Catholic priest and theologian. He was from 1954 to 1985 Bishop of Riobamba and one of the foremost exponents of liberation theology in Ecuador. He has become known as the " bishop of the poor" and " bishop of the Indians ".

Life

Proaño entered the seminary in 1930 in Quito, where he studied theology and philosophy, and was ordained in 1936 by Archbishop Carlos María de la Torre to the priest. He was interested from the beginning to the most advanced trends in the field of Catholic social teaching. In the Diocese of Ibarra Juventud Obrera Cristiana he founded the (German Young Christian Workers ). In 1954 he was appointed Bishop of Riobamba. He received his episcopal consecration on May 26, 1954, the then Apostolic Nuncio of Ecuador and later Cardinal Opilio Rossi.

From his bishopric Riobamba, he engaged continuously for more social justice for the indigenous population, the " Indians ", and stated - emphatically the doctrines of liberation theology representative - to its goal to improve their situation significantly and sustainably. Among other things, he founded in 1960, the Centro de Estudios y Acción Social (German Centre for Studies and Social Action ), in order to support the indigenous communities in their development efforts, and in 1962 the Escuelas Radiofónicas Populares (German Radio elementary schools ) with the goal of literacy and education. From 1960 to 1965 Proaño participated in the Second Vatican Council and in part was involved, among others, in drafting the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes. In the late 1960s and in the 1970s he was active in supporting the indigenous communities and their associations in the fight for a fair land reform (see also movement of the indigenous people in Ecuador).

In this context, his diocese was visited in 1974 by an Apostolic Visitor and monitors and Proaño in the Vatican cited because he was suspected of supporting guerrilla activity. Proaño was acquitted of all charges. During the military dictatorship headed by Guillermo Rodríguez Lara, he was with 16 other bishops arrested at a meeting in Santa Cruz in the province of Chimborazo and detained for 28 hours in Quito.

Under his leadership, a working group translated the four Gospels into Quichua of Ecuador, which came out in 1972.

In 1985, he was emeritus bishop of Riobamba after reaching the age of 75 years. He was appointed at the request of indigenous organizations of John Paul II as "Bishop of the Indians ". In the same year the Argentine Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Pérez Esquivel proposed him for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.

He took on various honorary doctorates from domestic and foreign universities were awarded, including in 1987 by the Faculty of Arts of the University of Saarland. In 1986 he was awarded the Rothko Chapel in Houston, on July 8, 1988 Bruno Kreisky Award for Services to Human Rights and in the same year posthumously the Human Rights Award of the United Nations.

Works

• Rupito. In 1953.
• Creo en el Hombre y en la Comunidad. In 1977.
• El Evangelio Subversivo. In 1987.
• Raise public, Evangelización y Política. In 1987.