Samuel Ruiz García | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas | |
 Bishop Ruiz in 1996 | |
| Diocese | San Cristóbal de las Casas |
| Retired | 13 Mar 2000 |
| Successor | Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 2 Apr 1949 |
| Consecration | 25 Jan 1960 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 3 November 1924 |
| Died | 24 January 2011 (aged 86) Mexico City, Mexico |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Alma mater | Gregorian University (PhD) |
Samuel Ruiz García (3 November 1924 – 24 January 2011) was a Mexican Catholic prelate who served as bishop of the Diocese of San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, from 1959 until 1999.[1] Ruiz is best known for his role as mediator during the conflict between the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) and the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), a Mexican political party which had held power for over seventy years, and whose policies were often disadvantageous to the indigenous populations of Chiapas. Inspired by Liberation Theology, which swept through the Catholic Church in Latin America after the 1960s, Ruiz's diocese helped some hundreds of thousands of indigenous Maya people in Chiapas who were among Mexico's poorest marginalized communities.[1]
- ^ a b "Mexico bishop and indigenous champion Samuel Ruiz dies". BBC News. 24 January 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2012.