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Rodolfo Ignacio Quezada Toruño (8 March 1932 – 4 June 2012) was a Guatemalan Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Santiago de Guatemala from 2003 to 2010. He previously served as Bishop of Zacapa y Santo Cristo de Esquipulas from 1980 to 2001. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 2003.


Biography

The oldest of three children, Quezada was born in
Guatemala City Guatemala City (, also known colloquially by the nickname Guate), is the Capital city, national capital and largest city of the Guatemala, Republic of Guatemala. It is also the Municipalities of Guatemala, municipal capital of the Guatemala Depa ...
to René Quezada Alejos and Clemencia Toruño Lizarralde. After studying philosophy at the
Seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...
of ''San José'' in
El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...
, he earned a Licentiate in Theology from the University of Innsbruck in Austria in 1959 and a Doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 1962. Quezada was
ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...
to the priesthood by Archbishop Mariano Rossell y Arellano on 21 September 1956. He served as parochial vicar of ''El Sagrario'', rector of ''Beatas di Belén'', university chaplain as well as vice- chancellor of the Archdiocese of Guatemala City. He was the first rector of the National Major Seminary of the Assumption in
Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
, and named Chaplain of His Holiness on 18 August 1968. He also taught
canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...
at the Salesian Theological Institute and Rafael Landívar University, and ethics at the University of San Carlos of Guatemala. On 5 April 1972, Quezada was appointed
Auxiliary Bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...
of Zacapa and
Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...
of ''Gadiaufala'' by
Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...
. He received his episcopal consecration on the following 13 May from Archbishop Girolamo Prigione, with Bishops Costantino Luna Pianegonda, O.F.M., and José Pellecer Samayoa serving as co-consecrators, in the metropolitan cathedral of Santiago. He was named Coadjutor Bishop of Zacapa on 11 September 1975, and later succeeded Bishop Luna Pianegonda as Bishop of Zacapa on 16 February 1980. When the Territorial Prelature of Santo Cristo de Esquípulas was merged with his East Guatemalan diocese on 24 June 1986, he became known as Bishop of Zacapa y Santo Cristo de Esquipulas. He served as President of the Guatemalan Episcopal Conference from 1988 to 1992, and again from 2002 to 2006. Quezada became a national hero by helping to bring to an end the
civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
that devastated his country for 36 years. He led two organizations that played important roles in forming a peace agreement: the National Reconciliation Commission, which he headed from 1987 to 1993, and the Assembly of the Civil Society, which he headed from 1994 to 1996. He was also the official conciliator between the
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
and the guerrillas of the National Revolutionary Unit (1990–1994). His assistant in the peace process, Bishop Juan Gerardi, was murdered in April 1998. On 19 June 2001, Quezada was promoted to Archbishop of Guatemala City by
Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...
. He was created
Cardinal-Priest A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. ...
of '' San Saturnino'' in the consistory of 21 October 2003. He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected
Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...
. Within the Roman Curia, he was a member of the Pontifical Council for Culture and the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. His resignation was accepted by Pope Benedict XVI on 4 October 2010, when he was succeeded as Metropolitan Archbishop of Guatemala by Archbishop Oscar Julio Vian Morales, S.D.B., who until then had been Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Altos, Quetzaltenango-Totonicapan, also in Guatemala. Cardinal Quezada was then referred to as Archbishop Emeritus of the see. On 8 March 1992, he reached age 80 and ceased to be a cardinal elector.


Death

Cardinal Quezada Toruño died the morning of 4 June 2012 at a private hospital in Guatemala City due to complications of a bowel obstruction.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Quezada Toruno, Rodolfo 1932 births 2012 deaths 20th-century Guatemalan people 21st-century Guatemalan people Academic staff of Rafael Landívar University Academic staff of Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II Guatemalan cardinals People from Guatemala City Deaths from bowel obstruction Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Roman Catholic archbishops of Guatemala (1743-2013) Roman Catholic bishops of Zacapa y Santo Cristo de Esquipulas