INESIN Anniversary Event

 It was a full day of meeting at INESIN on Saturday, May 5, 2012.  Here is Hermana Lucy sharing some memories of the beginning of the project 15 years ago.  She was one of several such speakers.

 This is one of the discussion groups talking about what we have heard.  This particular group is international partner groups.  Around the table are folks from Switzerland, South Africa, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and mainland USA.  We are Mennonite, Reformed, Catholic, Disciples of Christ and United Church of Christ.

 This is the next step.  Here is Felix Ortiz Cotto, our Executive for Latin America and the Caribbean from Common Global Ministries, reporting back to the whole assembly what we talked about in our smaller group.

 We took a bit of a break from all the talking and planted a tree to represent a commitment to the future.  The whole group did it with some ceremony, but we were so crowded together it was difficult to get a picture.  Here is Marina from SiPaz and her young son giving the new tree a little bit of water.  The tree will bear at least two kinds of fruit - it is grafted together.  An apt symbol for an organization promoting ecumenical work.

And the day concluded with Mariachi music and dancing.  This is, of course, Mexico!

Celebration Opens with Mayan Prayer Service

 After a few opening and welcoming remarks from Ernesto Martin, the three day celebration of the 15th Anniversary of INESIN began on Friday, May 4, 2012 with a Mayan Prayer time led by spiritual leaders from Huixtan, Chiapas, Mexico.  The prayers centered around an altar formed on the ground; a circle of flowers and candles, oriented on the four cardinal directions.  

Rhythmic prayer in the Tzotzil language was accompanied by stringed instrument music and maracas played by several of the congregants.

Here one of the women worship leaders moves around through the congregation with copal incense.  The copal is placed on hot charcoal in a terra cotta censor which she is able to hold in her hand by the base.  It looks like a big chalice.  She then blows on the charcoal and is able to direct puffs in incense smoke in particular directions.


After the Mayan prayer service there were the lectures about the historical context of the area, followed by a substantial lecture General Secretary of a Swiss mission sending association which has been deploying young adults at INESIN for several years.

Melel Xojobal

This morning we visited with one of our partners in San Cristobal, Melel Xojobal.  They work with indigenous children in the area, provide a nursery school, and do an outreach to children who work on the street in San Cristobal.  Here is their website and you will enjoy how colorful it is.  http://www.melelxojobal.org.mx/   


This is Rebecca posing in front of part of their mural in the garden

Mujeres de Maiz

It was a busy today.  In the morning we went to a Maya medical herbal museum and learned about Mayan spirituality, use of natural plants, and agricultural plants also.  Found out that tomorrow is a big day on the Mayan calendar - the day for the blessing of the seeds and planting in this area.  The museum is called OMIECH.


In the afternoon we took a combi cab up to San Andreas Larrainzar, a community a little over an hour away to the northwest.  There we met with a women's weaving cooperative called Mujeres de Maiz (Women of the Corn) and learned something about their experience.  They showed us some of the things they have made, and we did some purchasing.  They prepared a meal for us and we ate together.  They are pretty traditional Mayan women and somewhat reluctant to be photographed.  However they consented to a picture of us in the back yard.  There is a deep ravine behind us and on the other side is the local cemetery which you can almost see in the background.


Tomorrow we visit with two partner groups - those that Illinois Maya Ministry works with on a regular basis.

Delegation Assembles

Here are all eight members of the delegation gathered for lunch at Tierra Dentro in San Cristobal de Las Casas, today, May 1.  Six of us had flown in today from Chicago and two were already here.  We are here to celebrate the 15th Anniversary of INESIN - an ecumenical and intercultural institute dedicated to peace building.

May Delegation

A delegation of Midwestern church people are off to Southern Mexico to celebrate the 15th anniversary of INESIN, an ecumenical organization whose purpose is to bring together religions and cultures, particularly Mayan people.

The delegation will take place May 1-8 and travel will be to San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico.  Participants include clergy and laity, United Church of Christ (UCC) and Disciples of Christ (DOC); Rev. Paula Bidle and her husband George Moore (UCC), Rev. David Geenen and his wife Sonya Geenen (DOC), Rev. Michelle Prentice-Leslie (UCC), Jeanne O'Melia (DOC), Rev. Michael Swartz and his daughter Rebecca Swartz (UCC).  They will be joined in Mexico by Area Executive for Latin America and the Caribbean, Rev. Felix Ortiz Cotto, of Common Global Ministries.

The main purpose of the delegation will be to joint together with INESIN - the intercultural institute in San Cristobal.  We are attending to respond to their invitation to us to join in their Fiesta.  (Here is their website, both English and Spanish:  http://www.inesin.ironie.org/  )  We will also visit with other partner groups in the area to learn from them about their concrete experience and to accompany them in their witness.

We ask your prayers for traveling mercies and that our efforts will provide support and encouragement to all those involved.  We also ask you to keep INESIN in your prayers - that they may continue to grow and serve in this conflicted area of God's world.

The Death of a Saint

From the San Cristóbal Diocese



Today, January 24 2011, at 10:00 am, Mons. Samuel Ruiz Garcia, Bishop Emeritus of San Cristobal de las Casas, ended his pilgrimage on earth and passed into full Life.

He died in Mexico City, where he had been hospitalized for two weeks, due to pulmonary and renal insufficiencies, coronary and carotid problems and prolonged diabetes.
His remains were taken today to the Cathedral of San Cristobal, where, beginning at 7:00 pm, they will be on review, for the prayers of the faithful and the farewells of the communities.
In the Cathedral, masses will be celebrated at different times, principally at 12:00 and 7:00 pm; in particular, this Tuesday, there will be a celebration of his 51st episcopal ordination.
He will be buried in the Cathedral on Wednesday January 26, beginning with an internment mass in the Cathedral Plaza at 12:00 pm.

He was born on November 3, 1924, in Irapuato, Guanajuato. His studies were done in the Seminary of Leon, Guanajuato. He was sent to Rome for specialized studies in Holy Scripture in the Pontifical Gregorian University and the Biblical Institute, where he obtained a doctorate.

From 1952 to 1959, he was a professor , prefector of studies and rector of the Seminary of Leon.

He was named Bishop of Chiapas on November 14, 1959 by Pope John 23, and consecrated in the Cathedral of San Cristobal on January 25, 1960, becoming the 35th bishop of this Diocese.

He has received different recognitions, distinctions, prizes and medals in different parts of the world.  He participated in the four Vatican II Councils, from 1962 to 1965.  From 1965 to 1973, in the Episcopal Conference of Mexico, he presided over the Commission for the Indigenous, instilling a renewed spirit to indigenous pastoral work.  In 1968, he participated in the II Latin American Episcopal Conference (CELAM) in Medellin, Colombia, and was elected President of the Department of Mission of the CELAM, which concerned indigenous pastoral work.

In 1970, he convened and presided over the "Xicotepec" Meeting, which revolutionized pastoral work with the indigenous: there would no longer be an "indigenist" pastorate, in which the indigenous are merely objects of evangelization, but they would grow and become actors within their own church and society.  In 1974, the state government entrusted him with the development of the Indigenous Congress, in which different ethnicities of Chiapas gave their pronouncements and demanded their human rights.  In 1975, he convened the first of the Diocesan Assemblies, which have been continued to be held without interruption since that date. In that year, he also initiated the Permanent Diaconate, primarily within indigenous communities, as a form in which the church could incarnate and grow within those cultures. At the end of his service in May, 2000, there were 341 permanent deacons.

From 1982 to 1995, he compelled attention to the refugees which had fled from Guatemala, because of the war in that country.  In 1993, he published his Pastoral Letter: "In this Hour of Grace", in which he warned of the gravity of the injustices against the indigenous.  From 1994 to 1998, he served as Mediator in the conflict between the EZLN and the federal government, and founded the National Commission of Mediation (CONAI) in October, 1994. On February 16, 1995, he participated in the signing of the San Andres Peace Accords.

On July 20, 1994, he convened the III Diocesan Synod, which was formally initiated on January 25, 1995 and ended on November 3, 1999, the day he turned 75 years of age. On that date, faithful to the that which had been prescribed by Vatican II, he signed his resignation from the Diocese, which was accepted on March 30, 2000. From that day until May 1, 2000, he functioned as the Diocesan Administrator until the arrival of his successor.

In order to respect the pastoral work of his successor, he moved to the city of Queretaro, where he lived until the end of his life. From there, he continued to serve the indigenous and the cause of the poor, in whatever place and circumstance which required his presence.

The theme of his episcopate was: To Teach and to Instill. Alluding to this theme, he ended his homily on January 25, 2010, on the golden anniversary of his installation as bishop, in the Cathedral Plaza: "We give infinite thanks to the Lord, Triune and One, for having made us His children, and for having called us as pastor of His Church, to educate and instill His Kingdom of justice, love and peace."

He leaves as his legacy his efforts in:

1. The promotion of the integration of the indigenous, that they may be actors within the church and the society.
2. The preferential option for the poor and the liberation of the oppressed, as a sign of the Kingdom of God.
3. The freedom to denounce injustices before any arbitrary power.
4. The defense of human rights.

5. Pastoral involvement in social realities and history.

6. The adaptation of the church to the culture, promoting native, autochthonous churches in different cultures--indigenous and mestizo--as was urged by the Council of Vatican II.

7. The promotion of women's rights and her equal responsibilities in the church and society.
8. A Church which is open to the world and a servant of the people
9. Ecumenism not only with other Christian confessions, but with all religions.
10. Mutual pastoral work with shared responsibility.
11. Indian Theology, as a search for the presence of God in the original cultures.
12. The Permanent Diaconate as a specifically indigenous process.
13. Reconciliation within the communities.
14. Unity in diversity.
15. The affective and effective communion with Peter's Successor and the Church Universal (III Synod, 571).