Juan José Gerardi Conedera
Encyclopedia
Monsignor
Juan José Gerardi Conedera (27 December 1922 – 26 April 1998) was a Guatemala
n Roman Catholic bishop
and human rights defender who was beaten to death two days after releasing a report on victims of the Guatemalan Civil War
.
in the 27 of December, 1922 . He studied at the city's seminary and won a scholarship to study theology in New Orleans, United States
. On December 21, 1946, he was ordained priest and served in several rural areas of Guatemala such as Mataquescuintla
, San Pedro Sacatepéquez
and Palencia
, as well as in the Capital City.
, assuming office the following 11 August. In the position he emphasised pastoral work among indigenous communities
.
In the 1970s, amidst the country's on-going Civil War
, he was a strong proponent for the official recognition of Guatemala's indigenous languages and was instrumental in securing authorisation for two radio stations to broadcast in Mayan languages
. In 1974, he was appointed Bishop of Quiché
, but continued working as an Apostolic Administrator in Verapaz.
Between 1980 and 1983 El Quiché saw increased levels of violence in the conflict between the Army
and various rebel guerrilla factions. Hundreds of Roman Catholic catechists and heads of Christian communities, most of whom were of Maya origin, were brutally murdered. Gerardi repeatedly asked the military authorities to control their actions.
While serving as president of the Guatemalan Conference of Bishops
, he spoke out openly about the January 31, 1980 Spanish embassy fire in which 39 people lost their lives and in where subsequently the Government of Guatemala became suspect. That same year he was called to the Vatican
to attend a synod
. Upon returning to Guatemala he was denied entry to the country. He travelled to neighbouring El Salvador
, which refused to grant him right of asylum
, and he settled temporarily in Costa Rica
where he remained until military president Romeo Lucas García was overthrown in 1982, allowing him to return to Guatemala.
On August 28, 1984, he was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Guatemala
.
The task of historical recovery that Gerardi and his team pursued was fundamental in the subsequent work of the UN
-sponsored Historical Clarification Commission
(CEH), set up within the framework of the 1996 peace process.
Although the Vatican, the REMHI and Msgr. Gerardi have been strongly criticized for furthering “Marxist” propaganda because the REMHI mostly blames the National Army
for the vast majority of deaths during the Guatemalan civil war, the U.N. Truth Commission Report comes to very similar conclusions.
On June 8, 2001, three army officers – Col. Byron Disrael Lima Estrada and Capt. Byron Lima Oliva (father and son), and José Obdulio Villanueva – were convicted of his murder and sentenced to 30-year prison terms. A priest, Mario Orantes, whom the court had identified as an accomplice, was sentenced to 20 years. The case was precedent-setting in that it was the first time that members of the military had faced trial before civilian courts. The defendants appealed, and in March 2005 an appeals court lowered the Limas' sentences to 20 years. Orantes' sentence was left unchanged and Villanueva had been killed in prison before the appeal verdict was reached. These revised prison terms were upheld by the Constitutional Court in April 2007.
The elder Estrada had been trained at the School of Americas.
Although some books like Maite Rico and Bertrand De La Grange's ¿Quién mató al Obispo? ("Who Killed the Bishop?") have implied that the trial was more about political ideology than discovering the truth about the bishop's assassination. The court stated that it was necessary to continue the investigation up the chain of command in order to fully obtain all the information regarding the Bishop’s death.
Monsignor
Monsignor, pl. monsignori, is the form of address for those members of the clergy of the Catholic Church holding certain ecclesiastical honorific titles. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian monsignore, from the French mon seigneur, meaning "my lord"...
Juan José Gerardi Conedera (27 December 1922 – 26 April 1998) was a Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
n Roman Catholic bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
and human rights defender who was beaten to death two days after releasing a report on victims of the Guatemalan Civil War
Guatemalan Civil War
The Guatemalan Civil War ran from 1960-1996. The thirty-six-year civil war began as a grassroots, popular response to the rightist and military usurpation of civil government , and the President's disrespect for the human and civil rights of the majority of the population...
.
Early life
Gerardi Conedera, of Italian ancestry, was born in Guatemala CityGuatemala City
Guatemala City , is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Guatemala and Central America...
in the 27 of December, 1922 . He studied at the city's seminary and won a scholarship to study theology in New Orleans, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. On December 21, 1946, he was ordained priest and served in several rural areas of Guatemala such as Mataquescuintla
Mataquescuintla
Mataquescuintla is a municipality in the Jalapa department of Guatemala....
, San Pedro Sacatepéquez
San Pedro Sacatepéquez
San Pedro Sacatepéquez is the name of two locations in Guatemala:*In Guatemala department:**San Pedro Sacatepéquez, Guatemala*In San Marcos department:**San Pedro Sacatepéquez, San Marcos...
and Palencia
Palencia
Palencia is a city south of Tierra de Campos, in north-northwest Spain, the capital of the province of Palencia in the autonomous community of Castile-Leon...
, as well as in the Capital City.
Bishop
On May 9, 1967, he was elected Bishop of VerapazRoman Catholic Diocese of Verapaz, Cobán
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Verapaz, Cobán is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Guatemala. It was elevated and renamed on 14 January 1935.-Ordinaries:...
, assuming office the following 11 August. In the position he emphasised pastoral work among indigenous communities
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
.
In the 1970s, amidst the country's on-going Civil War
Guatemalan Civil War
The Guatemalan Civil War ran from 1960-1996. The thirty-six-year civil war began as a grassroots, popular response to the rightist and military usurpation of civil government , and the President's disrespect for the human and civil rights of the majority of the population...
, he was a strong proponent for the official recognition of Guatemala's indigenous languages and was instrumental in securing authorisation for two radio stations to broadcast in Mayan languages
Mayan languages
The Mayan languages form a language family spoken in Mesoamerica and northern Central America. Mayan languages are spoken by at least 6 million indigenous Maya, primarily in Guatemala, Mexico, Belize and Honduras...
. In 1974, he was appointed Bishop of Quiché
Roman Catholic Diocese of Quiché
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Quiché is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Los Altos Quetzaltenango-Totonicapán. It was renamed on 11 July 2000.-Ordinaries:*Humberto Lara Mejía, C.M...
, but continued working as an Apostolic Administrator in Verapaz.
Between 1980 and 1983 El Quiché saw increased levels of violence in the conflict between the Army
Military of Guatemala
The Military of Guatemala consists of National Army of Guatemala , the Guatemalan Navy and the Guatemalan Air Force ....
and various rebel guerrilla factions. Hundreds of Roman Catholic catechists and heads of Christian communities, most of whom were of Maya origin, were brutally murdered. Gerardi repeatedly asked the military authorities to control their actions.
While serving as president of the Guatemalan Conference of Bishops
Roman Catholicism in Guatemala
The Roman Catholic Church in Guatemala is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and curia in Rome.There are approximately 5 million Catholics in Guatemala, which is about 60% of the total population....
, he spoke out openly about the January 31, 1980 Spanish embassy fire in which 39 people lost their lives and in where subsequently the Government of Guatemala became suspect. That same year he was called to the Vatican
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
to attend a synod
Synod
A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...
. Upon returning to Guatemala he was denied entry to the country. He travelled to neighbouring El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
, which refused to grant him right of asylum
Right of asylum
Right of asylum is an ancient juridical notion, under which a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his or her own country may be protected by another sovereign authority, a foreign country, or church sanctuaries...
, and he settled temporarily in Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
where he remained until military president Romeo Lucas García was overthrown in 1982, allowing him to return to Guatemala.
On August 28, 1984, he was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Guatemala
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Guatemala
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Guatemala is a metropolitan diocese, responsible for the suffragan Dioceses of Escuintla, Jalapa, Santa Rosa de Lima, Verapaz, Cobán and Zacapa y Santo Cristo de Esquipulas. It was elevated on 16 December 1743...
.
National Reconciliation Commission
In 1988 the Conference of Bishops assigned Gerardi and Rodolfo Quezada Toruño to serve on the National Reconciliation Commission. This later led to the creation of the Office of Human Rights of the Archbishopric (Oficina de Derechos Humanos del Arzobispado, ODHA), which to date provides assistance for the victims of human rights violation. In that context work began on the Recovery of Historical Memory (REMHI) project. On April 24, 1998, REMHI presented the results of its work in the report Guatemala: Nunca más. This report carried statements from thousands of witnesses and victims of repression during the Civil War and placed the blame for the vast majority of the violations on the government and the army.The task of historical recovery that Gerardi and his team pursued was fundamental in the subsequent work of the UN
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
-sponsored Historical Clarification Commission
Historical Clarification Commission
The Historical Clarification Commission was Guatemala's truth and reconciliation commission.The creation of the CEH was ordered by the Oslo Accords of 1994 that sought to bring an end to the Central American nation's three-decade-long Civil War, during which an estimated 200,000 people lost their...
(CEH), set up within the framework of the 1996 peace process.
Although the Vatican, the REMHI and Msgr. Gerardi have been strongly criticized for furthering “Marxist” propaganda because the REMHI mostly blames the National Army
Military of Guatemala
The Military of Guatemala consists of National Army of Guatemala , the Guatemalan Navy and the Guatemalan Air Force ....
for the vast majority of deaths during the Guatemalan civil war, the U.N. Truth Commission Report comes to very similar conclusions.
Assassination
Two days after the publication of REMHI's report, on the 26 of April, 1998, Bishop Gerardi was bludgeoned to death in the garage of his home in Guatemala City. His assailants used a concrete slab, disfiguring him to the extent that his face was unrecognisable and identification of the corpse was made by means of his episcopal ring.On June 8, 2001, three army officers – Col. Byron Disrael Lima Estrada and Capt. Byron Lima Oliva (father and son), and José Obdulio Villanueva – were convicted of his murder and sentenced to 30-year prison terms. A priest, Mario Orantes, whom the court had identified as an accomplice, was sentenced to 20 years. The case was precedent-setting in that it was the first time that members of the military had faced trial before civilian courts. The defendants appealed, and in March 2005 an appeals court lowered the Limas' sentences to 20 years. Orantes' sentence was left unchanged and Villanueva had been killed in prison before the appeal verdict was reached. These revised prison terms were upheld by the Constitutional Court in April 2007.
The elder Estrada had been trained at the School of Americas.
Although some books like Maite Rico and Bertrand De La Grange's ¿Quién mató al Obispo? ("Who Killed the Bishop?") have implied that the trial was more about political ideology than discovering the truth about the bishop's assassination. The court stated that it was necessary to continue the investigation up the chain of command in order to fully obtain all the information regarding the Bishop’s death.