Federico González Suárez (1844–1917) was an

Ecuadorian Ecuadorians () are people identified with the South American country of Ecuador. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Ecuadorians, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source o ...

priest, historian and politician who served as the Archbishop of Quito for twelve years. Prior to becoming the Archbishop of Quito, he served as a senator in the Ecuadorian government in 1894 and then as the Bishop of Ibarra from 1895 to 1905.

Overview

He was noted for his opposition to the attempts by the

anticlerical Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historically, anti-clericalism in Christian traditions has been opposed to the influence of Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, ...

caudillo A ''caudillo'' ( , ; , from Latin language, Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of Personalist dictatorship, personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise English translation for the term, though it ...

Eloy Alfaro José Eloy Alfaro Delgado (25 June 1842 – 28 January 1912) often referred to as "The Old Warrior," was an Ecuadorian politician who served as the President of Ecuador from 1895 to 1901 and from 1906 to 1911. Eloy Alfaro emerged as the leader ...

to secularize Ecuadorian society. Despite his opposition to the anticlericals, he could be conciliatory and was known as a peacemaker during the country's volatile times, helping to maintain continuity in the nation. Of particular note was his public denunciation of a Conservative force massing in Colombia in 1900, a declaration that effectively ended five years of Civil War and ascribed a measure of legitimacy to Alfaro's Liberal government. He wrote several books about the history of Ecuador, among them the book '' Historia General de la República del Ecuador'', which is considered a masterpiece for its objectivity, painstaking research and erudition. He was not shy about criticizing the Church in Ecuador for abuses during the colonial period. The publication of the fourth volume of his history in 1894 was particularly scandalous since it uncovered the sexual liaisons of seventeenth-century Dominican friars in Quito. Although this work drew criticism from his superiors, he was ultimately vindicated, with the Vatican acknowledging the veracity of his analysis. His diligent scholarship, political savvy and commitment to the faith cause him to be remembered as one of the most notable figures of Ecuadorian scholarship, politics and Church leadership.Domenico, Roy P. and Mark Y. Hanley
''Encyclopedia of Modern Christian Politics''
p. 244, 2006 Greenwood Publishing The González Suárez neighborhood of the city of

Quito Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...

is named after him.

References

External links

Biography on Edufuturo

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzalez Suarez, Federico 1844 births 1917 deaths People from Quito 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Ecuador Ecuadorian male writers Members of the National Congress (Ecuador) Roman Catholic archbishops of Quito