Cardinal Ernesto Corripio Ahumada passed away on April 10th. Most people outside of Mexico have never heard of him. Everyone in Mexico knows of him since he served as Archbishop of Mexico City for many years. For an article from the Los Angeles Times, go to:
http://www.latimes.com/features/religion/la-me-corripio11apr11,1,5754840.story
Cardinal Corripio was responsible for healing a long-standing rift between the Vatican and Mexico. It is somewhat understandable why there would be a rift. Not too long ago in Mexico's history, there have been violent government-sanctioned actions against Mexican clergy. One instance involved the brutal murder of numerous priests and nuns and having their corpses tied to pillars in the public square for several days of "viewing". While we may have heard of similar instances in European countries, nobody seemed to care about what happened in Mexico because, well.....they were just Mexicans. This was the atmosphere in which Cardinal Corripio's faith matured. In spite of the struggles he experienced, he went on to forgive those responsible for such institutionalized atrocities against Catholics. He urged the Vatican to do the same. After all, Mexico has been one of the most Cathlic countries in the world for several centuries. Thanks to the efforts of Cardinal Corripio, Mexico re-established diplomatic ties with the Vatican in 1992.
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