GUÍZAR VALENCIA, RAFAEL, BL.

Bishop of Veracruz, Mexico; b. April 27, 1878, Cotija, Michoacán, Mexico; d. June 6, 1938, Mexico City. Rafael was one of 11 children born to the wealthy hacendados Prudencio Guízar González and Natividad Valencia Vargas. A brother, Antonio, became bishop of Chihuahua. Rafael's studies were begun at home and completed in the seminary of his native Diocese of Zamora; he was ordained on June 1, 1901.

Missionary Work. From the first, the future bishop felt an overwhelming impulse to work as a home missionary. He had physical and spiritual gifts that fitted him for this work, and eight days after his ordination he began his first missionary journey, which lasted almost two years. While assigned to the diocesan seminary as spiritual director, Rafael continued his mission work by founding with his own funds a school for poor girls and on June 3, 1903, a Congregation of Missionaries of Our Lady of Hope with a special college in Jacona, Michoacán, as well as another college for boys in Tulancingo, whose graduates he hoped would enlist in large numbers in his missionary congregation. The missionaries were to dedicate themselves to work in Mexico and the neighboring nations. In June 1910 Guízar was forced to order the dissolution of his foundation of missionaries. Neither the disappointment of the failure of his personal foundation nor the honors that he received dimmed the zeal of this priest for the missions, and by 1910 he had preached innumerable missions in six Mexican states, especially in southeastern Mexico.

The chaos in Mexico consequent on the fall of Porfirio Díaz ended the home missions but opened for the young priest new opportunities to serve the souls of his fellows. Disguised as a peddler, a homeopathic physician, or an accordion player, he traveled with the armies of the revolution, ministering to the wounded and preaching whenever the opportunity presented itself. Often he returned from these missions of mercy with his hat and clothes pierced with bullet holes. Often too, his priestly ministrations would rouse the anger of the revolutionary leaders and on numerous occasions he was condemned to death. His success in escaping this supreme penalty made him a marked man in so many areas that he finally fled to Guatemala in 1916. Under the name of Rafael Ruíz he was able to take up again his life as a home missionary and in one year married 7,000 couples. In 1917 Guízar landed in Cuba and until the end of 1919 he preached 143 missions there. While preaching a mission in the cathedral of Havana in August 1919, Guízar was told that he had been named bishop of Veracruz. His first reaction was to flee to Colombia where he preached for about four months. But on Nov. 30, 1919, he was consecrated bishop in Havana, and on Jan. 4, 1920, he arrived in Veracruz. His arrival coincided with a disastrous earthquake in a number of cities of his diocese and the new bishop immediately went to help his stricken people. With the permission of his brothers, he sold the beautiful pectoral cross of gold set with precious stones that they had given him, used the money for the poor, and thenceforth wore a cross made of brass.

Reaction to Persecution. During his episcopate, Guízar had to suffer persecution, as did his brother bishops, especially after Plutarco Elías Calles came to power. Guízar had his own particular cross in the person of the governor of Veracruz, Adalberto Tejada, who on June 17, 1931 decreed that he would permit only one priest for each 100,000 inhabitants. Guízar, recognizing that this decree made it physically impossible for the priests to carry out their duties, closed all the churches in the state in order to force the situation on the attention of the people. Tejada answered with a decree ordering that the bishop should be shot wherever he was found in the state. Guízar at the time was in Mexico City but he ordered his secretary to drive as rapidly as possible to the governor's palace in Jalapa. Guízar boldly walked into the governor's office, stating that he respected authority and that he wished to spare the governor's lieutenants the trouble of shooting him. The daring move paid off because the surprised governor did not dare shoot the bishop. Thus, Guízar was free to organize more than 300 Eucharistic centers, where his priests could minister to the people in ever–increasing numbers while the churches were closed. He was even able to maintain a seminary with more than 100 seminarians, who, though forced to move from place to place, were able to complete their studies and be ordained. In this way the diocese counted more priests at the end of the persecution than at its beginning. Worn out with his work, the bishop died in Mexico City.

In 1950 his body was exhumed and found to be incorrupt. Thereafter his remains were transferred to his titular chapel in the cathedral of Veracruz. The cause for his beatification was introduced in Rome Aug. 11, 1958. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on June 29, 1995.

Bibliography: e. j. correa, Mons. Rafael Guízar Valencia: El obispo santo 1878–1938 (Mexico City 1951). j. de la mora, Breves apuntes biográficos del Excmo. y Rvmo. Sr. Dr. D. Rafael Guízar Valencia, obispo de Veracruz (Mexico City 1955). j. a. peÑalosa, Rafael Guízar, a sus órdenes (Mexico City 1990). e. valverde tÉllez, Bio–bibliografía eclesiástica mexicana, 1821–1943, 3 v. (Mexico City 1949).

[e. j. correa]

Bl. Rafael Guízar Valencia.