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Ernesto Cardenal Martínez (20 January 1925 – 1 March 2020) was a Nicaraguan
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...
, poet, and politician. He was a liberation theologian and the founder of the primitivist art community in the Solentiname Islands, where he lived for more than ten years (1965–1977). A former member of the
Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the coun ...
n
Sandinista The Sandinista National Liberation Front ( es, Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, FSLN) is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas () in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto C� ...
s, he was Nicaragua's minister of culture from 1979 to 1987. He was prohibited from administering the sacraments in 1984 by
Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
, but rehabilitated by
Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013 ...
in 2019.


Early life

Cardenal was born into an upper-class family in Granada, Nicaragua. He studied at Colegio Centro America in Nicaragua. One of his brothers was fellow priest Fernando Cardenal. A first cousin of the poet
Pablo Antonio Cuadra Pablo Antonio Cuadra (November 4, 1912 – January 2, 2002) was a Nicaraguan essayist, art and literary critic, playwright, graphic artist and one of the most famous poets of Nicaragua. Early life and career Cuadra was born on November 4, 1912 in ...
, Cardenal studied literature in
Managua ) , settlement_type = Capital city , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Nicar ...
and then from 1942 to 1946 in
Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
and from 1947 to 1949 in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. In 1949 and 1950, he traveled through
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
,
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
and
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. In July 1950, he returned to Nicaragua, where he participated in the 1954 April Revolution against
Anastasio Somoza García Anastasio Somoza García (1 February 1896 – 29 September 1956) was the leader of Nicaragua from 1937 until his assassination in 1956. He was only officially the 21st President of Nicaragua from 1 January 1937 to 1 May 1947 and from 21 May 195 ...
's regime. The coup d'état failed and ended with the deaths of many of his associates. After a deep mystical experience that Cardenal had on June,2, 1956, in 1957 he entered the
Trappist The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance ( la, Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a ...
Monastery of Gethsemani (
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,
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), joining another poet-priest,
Thomas Merton Thomas Merton (January 31, 1915 – December 10, 1968) was an American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist and scholar of comparative religion. On May 26, 1949, he was ordained to the Catholic priesthood and g ...
, who was the master of novices; but in 1959, he left to study
theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...
in
Cuernavaca Cuernavaca (; nci-IPA, Cuauhnāhuac, kʷawˈnaːwak "near the woods", ) is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. The city is located around a 90-minute drive south of Mexico City using the Federal Highway 95D. The na ...
,
Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
.


Priesthood

Cardenal was ordained a Catholic priest in 1965 in Granada. He went to the Solentiname Islands, where he founded a Christian, almost-monastic, mainly-peasant community, which eventually led to the founding of the artists' colony. The colony engaged with painting as well as sculpture and was visited many times by artists and writers of the region such as Willarson Brandt,
Julio Cortázar Julio Florencio Cortázar (26 August 1914 – 12 February 1984; ) was an Argentine, nationalized French novelist, short story writer, essayist, and translator. Known as one of the founders of the Latin American Boom, Cortázar influenced an ...
, Asilia Guillén, and Aedes Margarita. It was there that the famous book '' El Evangelio en Solentiname'' (''
The Gospel in Solentiname ''The Gospel in Solentiname'' ( es, El Evangelio en Solentiname, link=no) is a collection of commentary on the Christian gospels, written by Ernesto Cardenal. Originally published in four Spanish-language volumes between 1975 and 1977, English tr ...
'') was written. Cardenal collaborated closely with the
leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in so ...
Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional The Sandinista National Liberation Front ( es, Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, FSLN) is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas () in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto C� ...
(Sandinista National Liberation Front, or FSLN) in working to overthrow
Anastasio Somoza Debayle Anastasio "Tachito" Somoza Debayle (; 5 December 1925 – 17 September 1980) was the President of Nicaragua from 1 May 1967 to 1 May 1972 and from 1 December 1974 to 17 July 1979. As head of the National Guard, he was ''de facto'' ruler of t ...
's regime.


Nicaraguan Revolution

Many members of the Solentiname community engaged in the revolutionary process through guerrilla warfare that the FSLN had developed to strike at the regime. The year 1977 was crucial to Cardenal's community, when Somoza's
National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...
, as a result of an attack to the headquarters stationed in the city of San Carlos a few kilometres from the community, raided Solentiname and burned it to the ground. Cardenal fled to
Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
. On 19 July 1979, immediately after the Liberation of Managua, he was named Minister of Culture by the new Sandinista government. He campaigned for a "revolution without vengeance." His brother Fernando Cardenal, also a Catholic priest (in the
Jesuit order , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...
), was appointed Minister of Education. When
Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
visited Nicaragua in 1983, he openly scolded Ernesto Cardenal, who knelt before him on the Managua airport runway, for resisting his order to resign from the government, and admonished him: "Usted tiene que arreglar sus asuntos con la Iglesia" ("You must fix your affairs with the Church"). On 4 February 1984 Pope John Paul II suspended Cardenal ''a divinis'' because of Cardenal's refusal to leave his political office. This suspension remained in effect until it was lifted by Pope Francis in 2019. Cardenal remained Minister of Culture until 1987, when his ministry was closed for economic reasons.


Later career

Cardenal left the FSLN in 1994, protesting the
authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic vot ...
direction of the party under
Daniel Ortega José Daniel Ortega Saavedra (; born 11 November 1945) is a Nicaraguan revolutionary and politician serving as President of Nicaragua since 2007. Previously he was leader of Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, first as coordinator of the Junta of Na ...
, calling it a "robbery of the people and dictatorship not a revolutionary movement" when he left the government. He was a member of the Movimiento de Renovación Sandinista (Sandinista Renovation Movement, or MRS) that participated in the 2006 Nicaraguan general election. Days before the election, Cardenal explained his decision: "I think more desirable an authentic capitalism, as Montealegre's nowiki/>Eduardo_Montealegre,_the_presidential_candidate_for_Nicaraguan_Liberal_Alliance.html" ;"title="Eduardo_Montealegre.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Eduardo Montealegre">nowiki/>Eduardo Montealegre, the presidential candidate for Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance">Eduardo_Montealegre.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Eduardo Montealegre">nowiki/>Eduardo Montealegre, the presidential candidate for Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance] would be, than a false Revolution." He was also a member of the board of advisers of the Latin American television station teleSUR. Cardenal was a polemical figure in Nicaragua's literary and cultural history. He has been described as "the most important poet right now in Latin America" politically and poetically. He was a vocal representative for Nicaragua and a key to understanding the contemporary literary and cultural life of Nicaragua. He participated in the Stock Exchange of Visions project in 2007. During a short visit to
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
, he made a profound impression on a group of writers called the
Hungry generation The Hungry Generation ( bn, হাংরি জেনারেশান) was a literary movement in the Bengali language launched by what is known today as the Hungryalist quartet, ''i.e.'' Shakti Chattopadhyay, Malay Roy Choudhury, Samir Ro ...
. Cardenal's tour of the United States in 2011 to promote his newest work stirred up some controversy, as with the
American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property, also known as The American TFP, and legally incorporated as The Foundation for a Christian Civilization, Inc. is a Catholic American advocacy group.< ...
that protested his appearances at Catholic schools such as
Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 stud ...
in
Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...
, because of his Marxist ideology. On 18 February 2019, Archbishop Waldemar Sommertag, the Vatican nuncio in Nicaragua, announced that Pope Francis had ended Cardenal's suspension and that Cardenal was "granted with benevolence the absolution of all canonical censures". His return to ministry was also confirmed by Managua Auxiliary Bishop Silvio Báez, who stated “I visited my friend priest, Father Ernesto Cardenal, in the hospital, with whom I could talk for a few minutes. After praying for him, I knelt in his bed and asked for his blessing as a priest of the Catholic Church, to which he agreed joyfully. Thank you, Ernesto! ” On 1 March 2020, Cardenal died due to complications from ongoing heart and kidney problems. His funeral was held in the
Managua Cathedral The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of Mary (Spanish: ''Catedral Metropolitana de la Inmaculada Concepción de María''), referred to as the New Cathedral (''La Nueva Catedral''), is located in Managua, Nicaragua. It was dedica ...
on March 3, 2020, and was disrupted by at least 100 pro-Ortega protestors who shouted "viva Daniel" and "traitor" at his Nicaraguan flag-draped casket. To avoid further harassment, Cardenal's burial was held in secret. At his request, Cardenal's remains were
cremated Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India and Nepal, cremation on an open-air pyre ...
and then buried in the community he founded on the Solentiname Islands.


Poetry

Earlier works were focused on life and love; however, some works like "Zero Hour" had a direct correlation to his Marxist political ideas, being tied to the assassination of guerrilla leader Augusto César Sandino. Cardenal's poetry also was heavily influenced by his unique Catholic ideology, mainly
liberation theology Liberation theology is a Christian theological approach emphasizing the liberation of the oppressed. In certain contexts, it engages socio-economic analyses, with "social concern for the poor and political liberation for oppressed peoples". I ...
. Some of his latest works are heavily influenced by his understanding of science and evolution, though it is still in dialogue with his earlier Marxist and Catholic material. Cardenal sums up his later material in a ''
PBS NewsHour ''PBS NewsHour'' is an American evening television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS member stations. It airs seven nights a week, and is known for its in-depth coverage of issues and current events. Anchored by Judy Woodruff, the pro ...
'' interview:


Honours

* 1980:
Peace Prize of the German Book Trade is an international peace prize awarded annually by the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (English: ''German Publishers and Booksellers Association''), which runs the Frankfurt Book Fair. The award ceremony is held in the Paulskirche in ...
* November 1990:
Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...
* 2005: Nominated for the
Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...
* 2009: Ibero-American Poetry Prize Pablo Neruda * 2009: GLOBArt Award in the monastery church in
Pernegg Pernegg is a town located in the district of Horn in Lower Austria, Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federa ...
* 2010:
Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (german: Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian D ...
* 2012: Queen Sofia Prize for Ibero-American Poetry * 2018: Mario Benedetti International Award


Bibliography


Books in English

* ''The Psalms of Struggle and Liberation,'' Herder and Herder, 1971. * ''Homage to the American Indians,'' Johns Hopkins University Press (Baltimore, MD), 1973. * ''Apocalypse and Other Poems,'' (Editor and author of introduction, Robert Pring-Mill), New Directions (New York, NY), 1974. * ''In Cuba,'' New Directions (New York, NY), 1974. * ''Zero Hour and Other Documentary Poems,'' (Editor, Donald Walsh), New Directions (New York, NY), 1980. * ''With Walker in Nicaragua and Other Early Poems: 1949-1954,'' (Translator, Jonathan Cohen), Wesleyan (Middleton, CT), 1984. * ''From Nicaragua, with Love: Poems (1979–1986),'' (Translator, Jonathan Cohen), City Lights (San Francisco, CA), 1987. * ''Golden UFOs: The Indian Poems: Los ovnis de oro: Poemas indios,'' Indiana University Press (Bloomington, IN), 1992. * ''The Doubtful Strait/El estrecho dudoso,'' Indiana University Press (Bloomington, IN), 1995. * ''Flights of Victory/Vuelos de victoria,'' Curbstone Books (Willmantic, CT), 1995. * ''Cosmic Canticle,'' Curbstone Books (Willmantic, CT), 2002. * ''Love: A Glimpse of Eternity,'' (Translator, Dinah Livingston), Paraclete Press (MA), 2006. * ''Pluriverse: New and Selected Poems,'' (Editor, Jonathan Cohen), New Directions, 2009. * ''The Gospel in Solentiname,'' Orbis Books (Maryknoll, NY), 2010. * ''The Origin of Species and Other Poems,'' (Translator, John Lyons), Texas Tech University Press (Lubbock, TX), 2011.


Poetry

*''Gethsemani Ky'' *''Hora 0'' ("Zero Hour") *''Epigramas'' ("Epigrams") *''Oración Por Marilyn Monroe'' ("Prayer for Marilyn Monroe") *''El estrecho dudoso'' ("The Doubtful Strait") *''Los ovnis de oro'' ("Golden UFOs") *''Homenaje a los indios americanos'' ("Homage to the American Indian") *''Salmos'' ("Psalms") *''Oráculo sobre Managua'' ("Oracle on Managua") *''Con Walker en Nicaragua'' ("With Walker in Nicaragua and Other Early Poems") *''Cántico Cósmico'' ("Cosmic Canticle") *''El telescopio en la noche oscura'' ("Telescope in the Dark Night") *''Vuelos de la Victoria'' ("Flights of Victory) *''Pluriverse: New and Selected Poems'' *''El Origen de las Especies y otros poemas'' ("The Origin of the Species") *''Un Museo en Kampuchea'' ("A Museum in Kampuchea")


References


External links


Finding aid for the Ernesto Cardenal Papers
at the
Benson Latin American Collection The Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection is part of the University of Texas Library system in partnership with the Teresa Lozano Long Institute for Latin American Studies (LLILAS), located in Austin, Texas, and named for the historian and ...

About Ernesto Cardenal
''- comprehensive bibliography'' *
Ernesto Cardenal en MarcaAcme.com
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...
.
Stock Exchange Of Visions: Visions of Ernesto Cardenal (Video Interviews)


{{DEFAULTSORT:Cardenal, Ernesto 1925 births 2020 deaths People from Granada, Nicaragua Anti-poverty advocates 20th-century Nicaraguan poets Nicaraguan male poets Liberation theologians Nicaraguan Roman Catholic priests Nicaraguan Christian socialists Laicized Roman Catholic priests Dissident Roman Catholic theologians Christian Peace Conference members Catholic poets Culture ministers of Nicaragua Nicaraguan culture Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class Sandinista National Liberation Front politicians Sandinista Renovation Movement politicians Nicaraguan translators Nicaraguan sculptors People of the Nicaraguan Revolution 20th-century Nicaraguan sculptors 20th-century translators Catholic socialists Christian socialist theologians 20th-century male writers People educated at Colegio Centro América Deaths from kidney disease Poet priests