Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Quito (Agenzia Fides) - Ecuador is celebrating the anniversary of the birth of Mgr. Leonidas Eduardo Proaño Villalba, the "Bishop de los Indios", as he was called by everyone in the Latin American country, who dedicated his life to support the cultural and territorial rights and identity of indigenous peoples. "I am the son of a poor family ... I was born on January 29, 1910 in San Antonio de Ibarra (Northern Andes of Ecuador, ed) ... I knew, as all the poor, what longing and hunger mean. Poverty! ... But even that is a gift", he says in his autobiography.
On 26 May 1954 he was consecrated Bishop of the Diocese of Bolívar (province of Chimborazo and Bolivar), appointed by Pope Pius XII. The diocese changed its name to Riobamba in 1955. He was appointed Pastor, visited the peasant and indigenous communities, in which he found serious social problems. In 1956, seven years ahead of the first Agrarian Reform Law, Mgr. Leonidas Proaño, after checking that his diocese had vast properties, gave the estates of the Church to the natives, asking them to organize themselves in cooperatives, in order to ensure an income.
He died on August 31, 1988, leaving a rich legacy to the local church: the Centro de Estudios y Acción Social (CEAS), where leaders of farmers' organizations are trained; Schools Radiofoniche Popular Ecuador (ERPE) for literacy and adult education; the Hogar Santa Cruz, the center of community life and technical update; the Equipo Misionero Diocesan, missionary groups engaged in the social sector, an initiative which will be proposed in other dioceses. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 29/01/2015)
