BISHOP JUAN GERARDI

EARLY LIFE

• Born in Guatemala City on December 27, 1922
• Won a scholarship to a New Orleans college where he studied to become a priest
• On December 21, 1946 he became a priest.
• He preached all over Guatemala before he became a bishop

BISHOP

• On May 9, 1987 he became the Bishop of Verapaz
• He preached for 41 years before becoming a bishop
• As bishop, one of his main goals was to help indigenous people and their languages

BISHOP

• He changed from Bishop of Verapaz to Bishop of Quiché
• He continued working as Apostolic Administrator of Verapaz
• From 1980 to 1983 there were significantly higher violence levels in Quiché due to the civil war
• Many indigenous people were killed

MAIN GOALS

• He loved the indigenous peoples and wanted to protect them and their languages
• In the1970s, he gained government recognition of indigenous languages as official languages
• Around that same time, he convinced the government to allow radio stations to broadcast in indigenous languages

MAIN GOALS 2

• He worked for the National Reconciliation Commission and the Recovery of Historical Memory Project after the civil war
• He uncovered many controversial things regarding what the government did during the civil war
• He released a paper about this topic, which ultimately led to his death.
• The paper said that 85% of the human rights violations during the civil war were by the government.

PUBLIC CRITICISM

• Gerardi spoke about the Spanish embassy fire which was alleged to have been started by the Guatemalan Government
• Many people did not like this along with his priorities as bishop
• That same year, he went to the Vatican for a synod and was not allowed to return to Guatemala because of public criticism
• He was forced to settle in Costa Rica until the president was overthrown and he was permitted to return.

NATIONAL RECONCILIATION COMMISSION

• In 1988 both Gerardi and Rodolfo Quezada Toruño were assigned to serve on the National Reconciliation Commission
• Together they started the Recovery of Historical Memory which would help to collect facts and history on Guatemala's civil war
• It finished the same year it started and one of the most controversial statistics is that the National Army caused most of the deaths of the war, but this was later proved to be true

DEATH

• On 26 April 1988, Gerardi as an old man was beaten to death in the garage of the parish house of his church because of the reports in the Recovery of Historical Memory
• On June 8, 2001, three army officers were sentenced to 30 years in jail for the murder
• Mario Orantes, an accomplice, was only sentenced to 20 years

MURDERERS

• 3 people were convicted of his murder
• Disrael Lima Estrada, his son Lima Olivia, and José Villanueva
• They were each sentenced to 30 years in prison, but after Villanueva died in jail, their sentences were reduced to 20
• Estrada was released in 2012 for good behavior
• His son is still in prison

IMPORTANCE

• Bishop Gerardi helped indigenous people and kept their languages alive
• He spoke out against the government even though he knew it was dangerous

R.I.P JUAN GERARDI