Rodolfo Quezada Toruño
Rodolfo Ignacio Cardinal Quezada Toruño (born March 9, 1932 in Guatemala City , Guatemala ; † June 4, 2012 there ) was Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Guatemala . Due to his initiative, the 36-year Guatemalan civil war was ended; he was referred to as the "Peace Cardinal".
Life
Rodolfo Quezada Toruño initially studied Catholic theology and philosophy in San Salvador , El Salvador , and received the sacrament of priestly ordination on September 21, 1956 by the Archbishop of Guatemala, Mariano Rossell y Arellano . As part of further studies at the University of Innsbruck and at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome , he acquired in 1959 licentiate in Catholic theology and in 1962 with a thesis in the field of canon law doctorate . He then worked as vicar of the cathedral parish of Ciudad de Guatemala, as vice chancellor of the archdiocese , student pastor and university professor at several universities .
On April 5, 1972, Pope Paul VI appointed him . as titular bishop of Gadiaufala and auxiliary bishop in Zacapa . He received the episcopal ordination on May 13th of the same year by Archbishop Girolamo Prigione , Apostolic Nuncio in Guatemala and El Salvador; Co- consecrators were Costantino Cristiano Luna Pianegonda OFM , Bishop of Zacapa, and José Ramiro Pellecer Samayoa , Auxiliary Bishop in Guatemala. On September 11, 1975 he was appointed coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Zacapa , whose leadership he took over on February 16, 1980 with the resignation of Costantino Cristiano Luna Pianegondas. Since the amalgamation of the diocese of Zacapa with the territorial prelature of Santo Cristo de Esquipulas on June 24, 1986, he was Bishop of Zacapa y Santo Cristo de Esquipulas.
Rodolfo Quezada Toruño played a key role in negotiating to end the more than thirty-year civil war in his homeland, in which more than 200,000 people were killed. Quezada Toruño led the National Reconciliation Commission from 1987 to 1993 and later negotiated the final peace agreement, which was signed in December 1996.
Pope John Paul II appointed him Archbishop of Guatemala on June 19, 2001 and accepted him into the College of Cardinals on October 23, 2003 as a cardinal priest with the titular church of San Saturnino . Shortly afterwards he became president of the II American Mission Congress, which met from November 25 to November 30, 2003 in Guatemala City . On January 31, 2004 he was elected President of the Episcopal Conference of Guatemala .
On October 2, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI. his resignation request submitted for reasons of age.
After his death on June 4, 2012, President Otto Pérez Molina praised Cardinal Rodolfo Quezada Toruño as a “fighter for peace and national reconciliation” and ordered a three-day state mourning.
Memberships in the Roman Curia
Web links
- Entry for Rodolfo Quezada Toruño on catholic-hierarchy.org
- Interview with Cardinal Rodolfo Quezada Toruño (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b “Guatemalan 'Peace Cardinal' Quezada Toruno dies” , BBC , June 4, 2012
- ↑ a b “Guatemalan 'Peace Cardinal' Quezada Toruño died” , Welt Online , June 4, 2012
- ↑ Rinuncia dell'Arcivescovo Metropolita di Guatemala (Guatemala) e Nomina del Successore , in: Holy See Press Office: Daily Bulletin of October 2, 2010.
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Costantino Cristiano Luna Pianegonda |
Bishop of Zacapa 1980-2001 |
José Aníbal Casasola Sosa |
| Próspero Penados del Barrio |
Archbishop of Guatemala 2001–2010 |
Óscar Julio Vian Morales |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Quezada Toruño, Rodolfo |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Quezada Toruño, Rodolfo Ignacio; Quezada Toruño, Cardinal Rodolfo |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Guatemalan clergyman, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Guatemala and cardinal |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 9, 1932 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Guatemala City , Guatemala |
| DATE OF DEATH | 4th June 2012 |
| Place of death | Guatemala City , Guatemala |