José Raúl Vera López is a Mexican

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ol ...

of the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...

and since 2000

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Saltillo The Diocese of Saltillo ( la, Dioecesis Saltillensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Mexico. The diocese was erected on 23 June 1891. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropo ...

. He is known as well for his struggle for

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

and

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

Biography

Early life and formation

Vera López was born on 21 June 1945 in

Acámbaro Acámbaro is a city and municipality in the southeastern corner of the Mexican state of Guanajuato, on the banks of the Lerma River, and the oldest of the 46 municipalities of Guanajuato. Acámbaro was originally a Purépecha settlement which w ...

. In 1968 he started his religious training in the novitiate of the Order of Preachers, also known as the

, in the Central Mexican city of León. Subsequently he studied

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

and in

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 the ...

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

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 re ...

. Vera Lopez is an

alumnus Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...

of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas ''Angelicum'' where he obtained a licentiate in Sacred Theology with a grade of

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

. He was ordained priest by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo 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, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

on 29 June 1975 and consecrated bishop 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 ...

on 6 January 1988.

Episcopal career

Vera López held several clerical posts, was appointed

of the Diocese of Ciudad Altamirano in 1987,

coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) is a bishop in the Catholic, Anglican, and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese. The coadjutor (literally, "co ...

of the Diocese of San Cristóbal de Las Casas in 1995, and bishop of the Diocese of Saltillo in 1999. Next to his clerical career, Vera López is an avowed advocate for

and

. With the risk for his own safety he expressed his views against abuse of power, corruption, absence of the rule of law and violations of human rights. Furthermore, he opposes the fact that, although Mexico is not really a poor country, around half of its 110 million people live below the poverty line.Rafto Foundation for Human Rights (2010
''The 2010 Rafto Prize To José Raúl Vera López - Fearless Defender Of Mexico’s Most Vulnerable''
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Recognition

Vera López was nominated for a

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...

in 2012. He received several recognitions, e.g.: *2000: «Don Sergio Méndez Arceo» National Prize for Human Rights *2000: «Roque Dalton» Medal *2007: Medal of Merit in Mexico City *2009: «Samuel Ruiz» Award *2009: «Hijo predilecto de Acámbaro» Award *2010:

Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize The Professor Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize (''Raftoprisen'') is a human rights award established in the memory of the Norwegian human rights activist, Thorolf Rafto. Organization The prize is awarded annually by the Rafto Foundation for Human R ...

*2013: Doctorate ''honoris causa'' in humanities from the Dominican

Bayamón Central University The Bayamón Central University—or Universidad Central de Bayamón (UCB) in Spanish—is a private, Catholic university in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. Its predecessor began in 1961 by the Dominican Order as a community college of the Cathol ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vera Lopez, Jose Raul 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Mexico Mexican human rights activists Mexican Dominicans Dominican bishops People from Guanajuato 1945 births Living people