Próspero Penados del Barrio
Encyclopedia
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
n prelate
Prelate
A prelate is a high-ranking member of the clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin prælatus, the past participle of præferre, which means "carry before", "be set above or over" or "prefer"; hence, a prelate is one set over others.-Related...
of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
. He was the Archbishop of Guatemala City
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Guatemala
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Guatemala is a metropolitan diocese, responsible for the suffragan Dioceses of Escuintla, Jalapa, Santa Rosa de Lima, Verapaz, Cobán and Zacapa y Santo Cristo de Esquipulas. It was elevated on 16 December 1743...
, Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
from 1983 to 2001, and was involved in the peace negotiations during the last years of the Guatemalan Civil War
Guatemalan Civil War
The Guatemalan Civil War ran from 1960-1996. The thirty-six-year civil war began as a grassroots, popular response to the rightist and military usurpation of civil government , and the President's disrespect for the human and civil rights of the majority of the population...
.
Biography
Born in FloresFlores, El Petén
Flores is the capital city of Petén department of Guatemala. It is located at . The population is 13,700 .Flores serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality, with which it shares a name ....
, Petén
Petén (department)
Petén is a department of the nation of Guatemala. It is geographically the northernmost department of Guatemala, as well as the largest in size — at it accounts for about one third of Guatemala's area. The capital is Flores...
, Penados studied at the Seminario de Santiago in Guatemala and later at the Seminar of New Orleans, USA, to become a priest. He was ordered on March 24, 1951 in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and continued to study at the Roman Gregorianum
Pontifical Gregorian University
The Pontifical Gregorian University is a pontifical university located in Rome, Italy.Heir of the Roman College founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola over 460 years ago, the Gregorian University was the first university founded by the Jesuits...
, obtaining a degree in theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
.
He returned to Guatemala to serve as auxiliary bishop of the diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
of San Marcos
San Marcos, Guatemala
San Marcos San Marcos San Marcos (elevation: 7,868 feet (2,398 meters) is a city and municipality in Guatemala.It is the capital of the department of San Marcos.The municipality has a population of approximately 45,000.-Sports:...
starting in 1966, and as its titular bishop from 1971 until 1983. In 1982, he was elected president of the Conferencia Episcopal de Guatemala, a charge he occupied until 1986.
On December 1, 1983, Penados was appointed as the XVII Metropolitan Archbishop of Guatemala City and prelate of Esquipulas
Esquipulas
Esquipulas is a town in the Guatemalan departmentof Chiquimula on the border with Honduras. It serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name...
by Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
. During his years of service as the Guatemalan Archbishop, Penados changed the conservative approach of the Catholic Church towards the political scene of the nation, which at the time was suffering some of the most difficult years of the Civil War
Guatemalan Civil War
The Guatemalan Civil War ran from 1960-1996. The thirty-six-year civil war began as a grassroots, popular response to the rightist and military usurpation of civil government , and the President's disrespect for the human and civil rights of the majority of the population...
. He had a key role in the peace negotiations by denouncing many human rights abuses during past military regimes and by the Guatemalan Army, and by his support of human rights activism and victims of the Guatemalan Genocide. He was the founder of the Oficina de Derechos Humanos del Arzobispado de Guatemala (ODHA / Office of Human Rights of the Archbishopric) in 1990.
Penados resigned from his archidiocesan office in 2000, and was succeeded by Rodolfo Quezada Toruño as archbishop. He died aged 79 in Guatemala City, and was buried at the Catedral Metropolitana.