Francisco Marroquín (1499 – April 18, 1563) was the first bishop of

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 ...

, ''(in Latin)'' translator of Central American languages and provisional Governor of Guatemala.

Biography

Marroquín was born near Santander,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. He studied

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

in Osuna.Recinos 1952, 1986, p. 127. After entering the priesthood, Marroquín became a professor at the University of Osuna where he met Bishop García de Loaisa, an adviser to Emperor Charles V. Marroquín became a priest in the Spanish royal court. In 1528 the

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

Pedro de Alvarado Pedro de Alvarado (; 1485 – 4 July 1541) was a Spanish conquistador, ''conquistador'', ''adelantado,'' governor and Captaincy General of Guatemala, captain general of Guatemala.Lovell, Lutz and Swezey 1984, p. 461. He participated in the c ...

, Governor of Guatemala, was in Spain and met Marroquín; he convinced the priest to accompany him back to Guatemala. After first arriving in Mexico, he traveled onwards to Guatemala with Alvarado, in May 1528. On April 11, 1530, he was appointed parish priest of Guatemala. On December 18, 1534, he was appointed during the papacy of

Pope Paul III Pope Paul III (; ; born Alessandro Farnese; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death, in November 1549. He came to the papal throne in an era follo ...

as Bishop of Santiago de Guatemala and later provisional governor of Guatemala. On April 8, 1537, he was consecrated bishop by Juan de Zumárraga, Archbishop of Mexico, with

Juan Lopez de Zárate ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of '' John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Phili ...

, Bishop of Antequera, Oaxaca serving as co-consecrator. While bishop, he was the principal consecrator of Tomás Casillas, Bishop of Chiapas (1552) and principal co-consecrator of Antonio de Valdivieso, Bishop of Nicaragua (1544). Marroquín founded the School of Saint Thomas in 1559 (now the University of San Carlos of Guatemala) as part of his efforts to educate the native people. He became a scholar of the Kʼicheʼ language and published the first

catechism A catechism (; from , "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of Catholic theology, doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult co ...

in that language. The Universidad Francisco Marroquín 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 ...

is named for him.

Notes

External links and additional sources

* (for Chronology of Bishops) * (for Chronology of Bishops) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marroquin, Francisco 1499 births 1563 deaths People from Santander, Spain Clergy from Cantabria 16th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Guatemala Governors of Guatemala Bishops appointed by Pope Paul III Roman Catholic bishops of Guatemala (pre-1743) 16th-century Spanish writers 16th-century translators