Guayaquil, Ecuador, August 2009 GABRIEL GARCIA MORENO, THE UNKNOWN MAN Monograph by Eliana de Ambrosini

INTRODUCTION A historic political figure like Gabriel Garcia Moreno is always subject of being caricatured, especially by his enemies. In his case, being an Ace of the Catholic Church, an institution that has been historically attacked as Jesus told it would be, the enemies of the Church turn to be also the enemies of Garcia Moreno. Despite these attacks, his worldwide political highness turns a prior question for Ecuadorians to discover the real man, the true, the unknown Garcia Moreno. For this reason its not the purpose of this monograph to enumerate the sequence of tumultuous events of his political life that can be found in any biography, instead its to approach to his very soul and its spiritual evolution through certain important and revealing facts of his life. But first, lets place a very interesting prophecy about him brought to light 187 years before his birth. It was given to the blessed Mariana de Jesus Torres, a Spanish nun and one of the founders of the first Monastery in the Royal Audience of Quito. The Virgin Mary appeared to her many times from 1594 until her death in 1635. Among the prophecies, the Virgin told her in 1599 about the Independence from Spain and the future name of our country: Ecuador. In 1634, the Virgin told Mother Mariana: About 19th Century, here will live a true Christian president, a courageous man, to whom God our Lord will give the gift of martyrdom in the very square where my convent is placed. He will consecrate the Republic to the Divine Heart of my Holy Son, and this consecration will uphold the Catholic Faith in the years beyond, which will be ominous for the Church. This prophecy was literally fulfilled, as well see.

CHAPTER 1 BRIEF BIOGRAPHY 1.1 Childhood Gabriel Garcia Moreno was born in Guayaquil, the 24th of December of 1821, a year before the definite Independence of the Real Audience of Quito from Spain, in 1822. He was the last of 8 children. His father Gabriel Garcia Gomez, Spanish, a fervent Catholic of rigid habits, was the Syndical Procurator of Guayaquil. His mother, Mercedes Moreno, woman of a great faith too, was the daughter of a perpetual Town Councilor of Guayaquil. 1

When Gabriel was nine years old, in 1830, the Foundation of the Republics year, his father died, and his family, adherent of the Spanish crown, remained in the ruin. A good Mercedarian friar, Fray Jos of Betancourt, Mrs. Mercedes spiritual helper, took charge of Gabriel, serving as his teacher for several years, with big results. Gabriel showed a prodigious memory and a big ease for study and Latin. 1.2 Teen Years Afterwards, at fifteen years old, Gabriel was sent, with a lot of sacrifice, to study in Saint Fulgencio University of Quito. On a rough mule he got, insensitive to the hardships and dangers of the long journey, the young Gabriel attacked with enthusiasm the road between Guayaquil and Quito - a steep path where no cars could pass, as it ran through mountains at 4000 meters above sea level - and fell to the height of Quito, at 2800 meters. Then Gabriel began his studies of Philosophy and Laws. He was a very good student, and maintained his scholarship all the career. He learned French, English and Italian by himself and stood out for his capacity to study, prodigious intelligence, big memory, strong personality and forceful will. On 1844 he got the degree of Doctor in Law. The Ecuador of Garcia Morenos childhood and youth had been a rising Ecuador, full of revolutions and anarchy. The cultural environment was rationalist and liberal, openly hostile to the Church, and in politics everything was a lie and corruption. Those facts, in addition to the excellent Christian education that he received, marked him strongly, and determined to take the way of politics, to defend the Church against the anticlerical legislations and his homeland from the chaos and underdevelopment. 1.3 Youth Less than a year after his graduation, Garcia Moreno began to take an active part in politics in Ecuador. Since then and during his whole life, he alternated his fight against liberalism with his passion for science study, climbing (he scientifically explored the craters of volcanoes Pichincha and Sangay), law, poetry and journalism. As a writer he was a fighter and launched successively several newspapers, denouncing the immorality and politic corruption of his time. Meanwhile, his impeccable conduct and the bright future he had before, had certainly made it possible for him to pursue an alliance with the most honorable families in Quito, despite of his humble economic status. In 1846, he was 25 years old and married Rosa Ascasubi, from a wealthy family. The marriage was blessed with three daughters, who died shortly after birth. On March 30, 1848, he acquired the title of Lawyer. By that time President Roca named him Governor of Guayas and he proved to be an excellent politic administrator. When Roca fell, Garcia Moreno was sent to exile for the first time. In France he admired the Catholic reaction against the radical liberalism and devoted to the studies of Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry and Apologetic, he was an insatiable reader. Back in Ecuador in 1850, he found his country under the rule of the liberal antichristian Urbina and began to fight against him with his words, from the newspaper "La Nacin". Dictator Urbina repeatedly deported Garcia Moreno: to Colombia and to Peru. During 2

these odysseys he was elected Senator, but could not take charge of this position. 1.4 Adulthood Gabriel Garcia Moreno was now thirty-three years old and his political experience had convinced him of the vital need to illustrate to the people of his homeland. This cause, and the defense of the Faith and the Church, turned to be the aims of his life. With this belief he went again for more than a year to Paris, deepening his studies on the matters he considered should be taught in his country: Mathematics, Chemistry, Engineering, Geology, Botany, Agriculture, Vulcanology, Philosophy, Political Science and History. He also studied profoundly the public education system of France. He read three times the "Universal History of the Catholic Church" of Rohrbacher, the book that most influenced his doctrinal and spiritual formation. The prosperity of France under the reign of Napoleon III, showed Gabriel the progress achieved by a nation ruled by a strong executive, dedicated to positively transform society. In those years he had left the practice of religion: he didnt go to confession or to Mass on Sundays. One day, in a discussion with an atheist, the man remarked his incoherence, and Gabriel was beaten by the grace of God. From then on until his death, his life as a defender of the Church kept consistent with his spiritual life. In late 1856, after three years of exile, an amnesty proclaimed by General Robles, successor of Dictator Urbina allowed him to return to Ecuador. The political, cultural and economic degradation of the country in those years of military dictatorship was complete. He was greeted triumphantly and elected Mayor of Quito in 1857 and soon after, Rector of the University. Being Mayor, Gabriel tried to improve the appearance of the capital and, being Rector, promoted the modern laboratory methods, giving himself classes of chemistry. Afterwards, his political career was quickly propelled. He founded the new newspaper The National Union, to battle head on against radical liberalism that was again in the government. In 1857, Garcia Moreno was named Senator by the opposition. As Senator, he struggled for the abolition of tribute to the Indians. He also tried to enact the Law of Public Education that would establish a public education system similar to France. A system opposed to the liberal project, which sought to maintain the masses in ignorance for controlling them more easily. 1858 and 1859 were years of anarchy in Ecuador; the liberals were doing as one pleases. President Robles named himself Dictator and tried to banish Garcia Moreno forever from the country. Meanwhile, the little Republic was partially occupied by the troops of Marshal Ramn Castilla, President of Peru, in alliance with Ecuadorian liberal General Franco, who had proclaimed himself Supreme Chief of Guayas. In this dramatic moment, May 1859, the patriot forces named a provisional Government with Garcia Moreno, Jeronimo Carrin and Pacifico Chiriboga. Garcia Moreno, requested to take the military command to save his homeland, he personally led the troops and won battle after battle. Peru retreated completely. 3

After the victory, Garcia Moreno showed his magnanimity in proclaiming general amnesty to heal the wounds of civil war: "The Republic must be considered itself as a family he said. In the National Assembly convened in January 1861, he was unanimously elected President of Ecuador for the period 1861-1865. Garcia Moreno was 39 years old. As Constitutional President Garcia Moreno began a series of important reforms, among which were the restoration of the rights of the Church and a total reconstruction of the tax system. But the intrigues of local liberals along with the neighboring republics and the menaces and invasions from there continued uninterruptedly. In 1862 the Republic of Ecuador signed the Concordat with Pope Pius IX, which freed the Church from the Patronage Law that completely subdue the Church to the civilian government. It made the liberals explode. President Mosquera of Colombia declared war with Ecuador, while the traitor General Urbina plotted from Peru, supporting Mosquera with manifestos. Three were the reasons for protesting against Garcia Moreno: the Concordat, the presence of the Delegate of the Holy See in Quito and the arrival of the Jesuits to Ecuador. Since that time, the Freemasonic verdict for Garcia Moreno was death. This time Garcia Moreno lost the war and in name of dignity resigned his charge of President to the National Assembly, which insisted that he remain in office until the expiration of his term. But the rebellions and adventurers attacks continued unstoppable. After forgiving the lives of many rebel leaders, despite the fact that by law they deserved the death penalty, Garcia Moreno was harshly criticized for ordering the execution of another rebel, when it was clear that an exemplary punishment was needed to achieve peace in the Republic. Finally, in June 1865, after the naval battle of Jambeli, where Urbina forces were defeated completely, the peace reigned in Ecuador and lasted two months until the presidential term expired on August. This first Presidential period of Garcia Moreno was named The heroic period, because he ruled the country throughout rough circumstances: barracks mutinies, foreign invasions, threats, conspiracies, liberal blockage and two international wars. By that time, his loved and virtuous wife Rosa died at 56, on October 1865. On April 1866, he married his second wife, Mariana del Alcazar, niece of Rosa. Mariana was 29 years old; Gabriel was 45. When he told his proposal of marriage to Marianas mother, the noble woman replied that she feared her daughter would have the same turbulent life as her poor sister, with crying days and nights of anguish, wondering if her husband would bring his heart pierced by a bullet or a stab. Despite her fears, Garcia Moreno married Mariana, whose youth and admiration for Garcia Moreno made her courageous to face the distressful life of a patriots wife. After this, the new President sent Garcia Moreno as Minister Plenipotentiary to Chile, to support Per in its dispute with Spain for the Chincha Islands. When he just had arrived to Lima, at the train station, a nephew of Urbina attacked him with a knife, hurting his head. Garcia Moreno tried to defend himself, drawing out his revolver, when the police came. Incredibly, the liberal Lima Government distorted the facts and accused Garcia Moreno of violence, while his aggressor, protected by the Freemasonic lodges, was called the victim. This was a sign of what would occur during all Garcia Morenos life and after his death, until today: the freemasonry distorting the facts to show his catholic enemy as a violent 5

tyrant. Nevertheless, Garcia Moreno, who faced death during the attack, experienced a spiritual transformation that raised his soul to new heights. On his return from Chile, Garcia Moreno was named Governor of Imbabura, to undertake the reconstruction of the province after the devastating earthquake in Ibarra on August 1868. In this task he showed prodigies of organization and planning of the new city. Since her marriage, the sufferings of Mariana had been a lot: the attack in the city of Lima and the loss of their first child, a girl. Looking for a little rest for them both, Garcia Moreno led sweet Mariana to the beautiful hacienda of Guachal, surrounded with woods, meadows and herds. He decided to work the land amid the joy and tranquility of his home. But Providence had determined that this extraordinary man had no rest on earth. President Espinosa, politically weak, was accused of failing to prevent an upcoming liberal revolution, and was deposed by conservatives on January 1869. Garcia Moreno was requested to be the head of government. Garcia Moreno had to sacrifice their cherished retreat and assume again the leadership of his homeland. The National Assembly met in May 1869 and confirmed Garcia Moreno as constitutional President for the 1869-1875 period. The President enacted a new Constitution (he had showed that the precedent constitutions obstructed the good ruling of the country) but wanted to have it approved by the masses. The constitution was overwhelmingly approved by popular referendum. This was another sign of Garcia Morenos political life: Ecuadors people felt satisfied with his ruling but his enemies, a handful of liberal Freemasonic men, speaking falsely in the name of the people, accused him of tyrant and a killer. Freemasonry had always had many mass media in their hands. The Constitution, called "Black Letter" by the liberal cynicism, did a requirement for citizenship to join the Catholic faith. The overwhelming majority of Ecuadorians were at that time Catholic, except for the handful of freemasons who wanted the country to be open to foreign sects in order to weaken the Catholic faith, so it was in no way an act of constricting the cult freedom, but to protect the faith of the citizens, who wanted the necessary guarantees to practice it in peace and freedom. What a difference with the procedures from the freemason and liberal Alfaro, who, in 1906, arbitrarily and against the wishes of the people, changed the Christian public education to laical, stealing the poor children of Ecuador the chance to have a moral rooted in God. Surely this is the cause of the moral decay of the current Ecuadorian generations. At the swearing in ceremony of President, knowing that the powerful freemasonry had condemned him to death, Garcia Moreno expressed his deep religious belief: "Happy achievement if I seal with my blood this swearing in the defense of our august symbol, Religion and Fatherland." With the right constitution and the country pacified, this was the golden government period of Garcia Moreno: during these last 6 years of his life, Garcia Moreno managed the transformation and modernization of his country, so long desired for him. Ecuador was by that time the only one country in America that was not in possession of freemasonry. Garcia Moreno ended triumphantly this second period in 1875, having fulfilled many of his objectives for the progress of Ecuador. This could have been done because for the first time in Ecuador a peaceful atmosphere reigned inside and outside the country. Foreign 6

visitors didnt believe it was the unstable and miserable Republic they had known. The peace had been only slightly disturbed for the articles full of hate of freemason Montalvo, who inclusive mocked at the Consecration to the Sacred Heart. Garcia Moreno wrote to a friend: Im called thief and tyrant. () This is a new reason to thank God because Im slandered for being Catholic." Under this persecution, the soul of Garcia Moreno was raised to new heights and received the gift of prophecy: "After my death, Ecuador will fall again in the hands of the revolution, she will rule despotically under the misleading name of liberalism, but the Sacred Heart of Jesus, whom I have consecrated my homeland, will liberate my country from their claws, making it live again under the great Catholic principles." Million electors sent letters from provinces asking Garcia Moreno to continue in the Government, although the President prohibited his followers to promote his candidature. The new election ran on May 1875 and the day came for the vote: Garcia Moreno's victory was overwhelming, being re-elected by 22,726 votes. He would assume his new presidential term on August 10. The liberals and freemasons began a global chorus of lamentation and protest. The days that preceded his death, Garcia Moreno was cautioned several times of a complot to kill him. Prelates, friends and his father-in-law warned him about it. On July, 1875, he wrote to the Pope: "Im fortunate, Holy Father, of being hated and slandered because of our divine Redeemer, and what immense joy for me if your blessing reaches me from the sky to shed my blood for the One Who, being God, spilled his on the Cross for us!" On August 4 he wrote to his friend Juan Aguirre: "Ill be killed. I am happy to die for the Holy Faith. See you in Heaven." On August 6, as usual, he got up at five o'clock and went to church for the mass at six. It was the first Friday of the month, the day consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. After mass, in his office, he finished writing the presidential message that he would read on Congress the day of possession. This done, he went to his mother-in-laws house to enjoy about an hour with his wife and son, the little Gabriel. Then he continued his way to the Palace. Before getting into the Palace, he entered the neighboring Cathedral. He fell down before the Blessed Sacrament that was exposed and prayed for a while until one of the conspirators interrupted to tell him that someone called him outside. He greeted his assassins and began to walk with them toward the Palace, crossing the square. When they were climbing the stairs of the Palace, one of his assassins gave one step back and began the rain of machete blows over him. Other two assassins shot their guns repeatedly over Garcia Moreno while the fourth one grabbed the arms of his bodyguard. While hitting the President the freemason shouted: Die, Jesuit with casaca! The dying Garcia Moreno replied with weak voice: "God does not die!" His body was introduced in the Cathedral, where he received the extreme unction, forgave his enemies and expired at the altar of Our Lady of Sorrows. He was 53 years old. Inside his pocket a notebook was found, where he had written that day: My Lord, what do you want me to do for You today? 7

Men, women and children of Ecuador filled the streets with their cries; the mourning for his death lasted 20 years. His killers all suffered violent deaths. One of them, Cornejo, being imprisoned and facing his next execution, received the grace of repentant for his crime and thanked Heaven for saving his soul. Upon learning the sad news, Pope Pius IX said: "He fell under the action of a murderer as a victim of his faith and Christian charity." The Pontiff erected a monument to his memory at the Collegio Pio-Latino in Rome, where we read: Gabriel Garcia Moreno President of the Republic of Ecuador in South America treacherously killed by the hand of the wicked on the sixth day of August 1875 whose virtue together with the reason for his glorious death have admired, celebrated and mourned all the good ones in the world. Pio Nono Pontiff Maximum at his own expenses and the donations of a large number of Catholics has erected this monument to the egregious and meritorious defender of the Church and the Republic. Garcia Moreno was assassinated by local and international freemasonry. With his death, the modernization ended and began an obscure period of corruption and liberal moral confusion that lasts until our days.

CHAPTER 2 GARCIA MORENOS GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS 2.1 An overall overview Its not our goal to enumerate the countless accomplishments of Garcia Moreno during his two governments. But sure its ours to discover the heart, the human being that lay under that incredible moral and physical strength, and, because one can know an artist by his artwork, its important to have a minimal overview of his greatest achievements. Knowing them one can understand why Garcia Moreno is called, inclusive by some enemies, the actual father of the Ecuadorian nationality. His monumental work, so far unparalleled in public education and modernization of the state, resulted intolerable to liberals, having it been made by an openly Catholic politician.

2.2 Education Education of the Ecuadorian people was the core of the Gabriel Garcia Morenos administrative planning. The New Law of Public Instruction issued in 1863 ordered for the first time that primary education be obligatory and free. By the first time the girls and the Indians had obligation to go to school and get alphabetized. The Act also created a General Council, an Academic Council and Provincial Councils and set the number of subjects for each level of education and the duration of the school year. Educational programs were modified: male colleges became technical oriented avoiding the emphasis in humanistic subjects. He established Quechua-Spanish bilingual schools for the Indians and the first republican Normal for the training of indigenous teachers, to serve children and youth in their communities. The government provided food, clothing and school supplies. After Garcia Morenos death, the liberal Veintimilla closed the Normal. Serious analysts of the Garcia Morenos project have judged that if the Normal had remained a few years, the Indian people had experimented a profound change, at all levels. He entrusted his educational project mostly to the only institution that could bring highly qualified teachers at that time: the Catholic Church. Among them: The Brothers of the Christian Schools, The Religious of the Sacred Hearts of Providence, the Sisters of the Good Shepherd for primary and secondary schools. The Lazaros for the seminars; the Jesuits for the universities and the admirable Amazon missions. He created the University of Guayaquil and the University of Cuenca; closed the obsolete University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Quito and opened the new Central University that became of the best of America. For the Universities he brought from Germany Jesuit scientists with modern research techniques: chemists, physicists, mathematicians and naturalists. From France he brought doctor Domec (Surgery teacher) and doctor Gairand (Anatomy teacher), who created the School of Medicine. The Chair of Education for the training of Tutors was created. He ordered to give ample scholarships to poor students as he had been. He also established the School of Obstetrics. Garcia Moreno founded the first National Polytechnic School, which rivaled the best science colleges in the world at that time, and the Central Technical College, in Quito. Making great sacrifices bought in Europe the instrumental and tools needed to equip them both with laboratories for Chemistry, Physics and a Cabinet of Natural History. He also founded the School of Arts and Crafts. In Guayaquil, opened the second Military College since the first, opened by Rocafuerte, had been closed. He also established the Scientific and Literary National Academy. Garcia Moreno established numerous primary and secondary schools in Quito, Guayaquil, Cuenca, Latacunga, Riobamba, Guaranda, Loja, Latacunga, Ibarra and Portoviejo. He increased the teachers salaries from 9 to 30 pesos a month. To his death in 1875, the number of student children had risen from 13,485 students in 1867 to 32,000 and the fiscal investment in education had been tripled. In 1865 Garcia Moreno founded a Music Conservatory in Guayaquil. In 1870 he established the first National Music Conservatory in Quito. Antonio Neumane was named 10

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Director. Previously, Neumane had composed the music of the National Hymn by his request. In 1872 Garcia Moreno founded the School of Fine Arts under the direction of the artists Luis Cadena and Rafael Salas. The latter one painted the picture of the Consecration of Ecuador to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, by the Presidents request. He sent several artists to Europe under his protection. Garcia Moreno also founded the School of Sculpture. In 1873 Garcia Moreno opened the Astronomical Observatory of Quito, which runs until today at The Alameda Park. He also established the first museums and the first Botanical Garden. His noble obsession was to raise the scientific and cultural level of the people of his homeland at the European level. 2.3 Economy He enacted the first Tax Law, establishing prosecution for the fiscal defrauders. For this purpose he established an Auditors Court. So improved was the tax collection that, in six years, the fiscal revenue reached millions and the bureaucracy incomes were increased. This was an astounding achievement because the country was suffering a commercial crisis and Garcia Moreno didnt create new taxes but instead, reduced them. And despite the reduced incomes, the national exchequer had the elasticity that honesty gives. He also combated speculation and smuggling with energy. Public employees were reduced to an appropriate number and they all began to complete their working hours. The Republic Ledger Books, virtually nonexistent before, were now in order and updated. The Public Debt, product of the previous decades of political corruption, was almost completely paid. This done, Garcia Moreno suspended the paying of the External Debt. He created the Mortgage Credit Bank for Agricultural projects and the Saving Banks of Quito, Guayaquil and Cuenca. 2.4 Public Work In 1862 there were only 46 kilometers of roads in terrible condition. Garcia Moreno proposed an innovative network of roads across the Nation: the great road QuitoGuayaquil, completed during his second term; the roads Quito-Cuenca; Quito-Manab, Quito-Guamote; Cuenca-Naranjal; Loja-Guaranda; Otavalo-Esmeraldas and QuitoRiobamba-Sibambe, the latter one with 300 km., 100 bridges and 400 aqueducts. Garcia Moreno began the construction of the Quito-Guayaquil railroad (the first 44 km.) and built new miles of the Duran-Sibambe railroad. He also installed Telegraphs on the roads. Garcia Moreno built administrative buildings, port buildings and prisons. He also improved hospitals and moralized prisons. He brought the Sisters of Charity to attend hospitals and for the first time created charity buildings.

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2.5 Farming and Industry Garcia Moreno encouraged agricultural expansion: introduced eucalyptus seeds, a highly beneficial wood for construction and industry; developed a plan to restore eroded lands; tried out vine crops; for the textile industry tested morena crops (the silkworms food). He also promoted industry and crafts: founded the first sugar mill in Mindo; brought the first threshing machine to Ecuador; installed weaving factories in Los Chillos, Cuenca and Otavalo; discovered oil in Santa Helena. 2.6 Army Garcia Moreno reorganized the army to serve the nation, subjecting it to ordinances adopted from the Spanish military law, changing it from a disorderly and subversive institution to an instrument of peace and real defense of the state and citizens. He gave barracks, land and naval war materials to the Armed Forces. He began the National Guards, restored the Military School, established the School of Artillery and the School of Marine officers, to form them with the new methods imported from France and Spain. 2.7 National Identity Garcia Moreno made disappear the outbreaks of separatism and the nation for the first time became one, strong and indivisible. The unifying element that Garcia Moreno had found, was the Catholic faith of an entire nation, the base over which was crystallized the Ecuadorian identity. By this reason he is with justice recognized as the organizer and maker of the Ecuadorian Republic, which before had no form. He divided Ecuador in Provinces. Ordered to make the first national census, which was the basis to open the Registry Office. In the religious field, the new legal framework of the Concordat allowed the territorial and administrative reorganization of the Church: new dioceses were created, increasing the missionary work. Garcia Moreno controlled excessive militarism and strengthened civilian order, surrounding himself with honest and effective collaborators, as Juan Leon Mera. He reformed the moral in the Republic and to accomplish it, he gave the highest example of moral action in all fields.

CHAPTER 3 THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHECY 3.1 The prophecy On the 19th Century, here will live a truly Christian president, a courageous man, to whom God our Lord will give the palm of martyrdom in the very square where my convent is placed. He will consecrate the Republic to the Divine Heart of my Holy Son, and this consecration will uphold the Catholic Faith in the years beyond, which will be ominous for the Church. 13

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A prophecy can be evaluated through the credibility of the person that enacts it. If that person is Virgin Mary and all that She prophesied, more than two centuries before, was accurately fulfilled, we must take it very seriously. Since the beginning of 16th Century and for many years on, our Holy Mother appeared to the Spanish nun Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres at the Immaculate Heart Monastery of Quito. Among the other fulfilled prophecies are: the creation of the Republic and its name of "Ecuador" (the Virgin announced when it still was the Royal Audience of Quito); the proclamation of the Dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary; the liberal attack against the Faith, the Church and the Sacraments; and the peoples discovery of the apparitions history in the 20th century. 3.2 A truly Christian president Garcia Moreno showed that he had linked reason with faith, in all areas of activity. Convinced of the goodness of his faith, he never hid it, unlike modern politicians who felt embarrassed of being Catholic because, today when the world worships the religion of the tolerance to evilness, its not politically right. So he brought Catholic European scientists, to improve education in Ecuador, reaching the highest educational standards of the whole Hispanic America at that time. This was a slap in the face of freemasons and liberals, who said: "You control the economy and the military fields, the international relationship, and everything else: we'll take care of education." They knew that new generations were the key to control any nation. Garcia Moreno argued: Is it undemocratic to assure the education that prefers the vast majority of citizens? Why cant children at school study the religion of their parents? So Garcia Moreno was the only president who defended the faith of his people, while in the rest of America, a false democratic orthodoxy drove the politicians to leave education in the hands of freemasons and their indoctrination. His Christian faith was also showed through the signing of the Concordat with the Holy See, laying down a vexatious law to the Church, the Law of Patronage. This law was a privilege granted only to the Catholic Kings of Spain, that the liberal governments cunningly assumed. This law limited the power of the Holy See, allowing the civilian government usually liberals- decide what was competence of the Church, like creating or suppressing monasteries, creating dioceses, designating bishops, summoning priests councils. It caused a great damage: Garcia Moreno found the local church relaxed, failing in the fulfillment of their spiritual duties and the seminars in decline. Garcia Moreno tried to fix the situation with the Concordat. The first article stipulated in its main part that the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Faith would be the only Faith in the country and the Church would retain all the rights and privileges given by the law of God and the canonical order. Any dissenting worship was forbidden. As a logical consequence: "The instruction of youth in universities, colleges, faculties and schools will be totally according to the Catholic doctrine." A necessary reform of the Clergy was also decreed. Finally, the Concordat reserved to the Government the right to oppose the appointment of unworthy members of the clergy. 15

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The reform of the Clergy seemed too strong to the Pope, but at last he acceded to Garcia Morenos request and the Concordat was signed by Rome and Quito. Since the signing, liberalism and Freemasonry declared total war against Garcia Moreno. His coherence as a Catholic ruler was shown too, in September 1870, when the freemason and liberal army led by Garibaldi invaded the Italian Papal States. On January 18, 1871, Garcia Moreno was the sole ruler of the world to raise his voice of protest to the Foreign Minister of Italy, claiming by the usurpation. The Pope thanked the President awarding him with a first class medal of the Order of Pius IX and a written Praise. The summit of his Catholic behavior was reached with the Consecration of Ecuador to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, that well see ahead, as its a part of the prophecy. 3.3 A courageous man One day, when still a student in Quito, Gabriel was walking in the countryside with a book in his hands, when he found a huge rock that formed a natural arch that protected from the suns rays. He had just taken place under it in order to continue reading comfortably, when he suddenly realized that this huge rock hanging over his head, was almost completely out of its base and could collapse at the slightest movement. As driven by a spring, jumped out of the dangerous cave. But soon he dominated the fear, sat back under the wobbly rock and remained there for an hour. For several days, dominating his survival instinct, he returned to continue his reading at the same place. Obviously a man like this would never shake before a murderer's dagger or before the fury of an Assembly. During the several revolts and invasions from Peru and Colombia, Garcia Moreno never sent its soldiers to fight alone but he personally led his men in battle. For that reason he was taken prisoner of war in an occasion, when he was fighting against Colombian General Arboleda. His comrades told that he rushed along the enemy lines with five soldiers, injuring the left and right, after disband of the troops. A lot of courage was needed to establish civil order and peace into the troubled Republic. Sometimes Garcia Moreno was forced to bring order applying the penalty that Constitution prescribed for betrayal to the Nation: death, but very much against his will as many anecdotes describes. 3.4 The palm of martyrdom Its impressive how Our Lady of Good Success gave accurate details of the circumstances of Garcia Morenos death: Our Lady talked that he would be killed in the square in front of the Immaculate Heart Monastery, and so he was. Our Lady also remarked that Garcia Moreno would have a martyr death, and, moreover, that this was an award of God for him. This is clear because Our Lady said: God our Lord will give him the palm of martyrdom and the palm was the award for the winners in the Greek Olympic games. So, for those who believe in God, cant exist any doubt about the greatness of Garcia Morenos life, despite the hatred and the slanders of his freemasons enemies, because God has sealed the goodness with a divine reward, confirmed by the words of the Mother of God. 17

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3.5 He will consecrate the Republic to the Divine Heart of my Holy Son Garcia Moreno had a strong devotion to the Sacred Heart that he learned from the Jesuits. Father Proao suggested to him to consecrate Ecuador to the Heart of Jesus, as He Himself had requested in France to St. Margaret Mary two hundred years before. At first, Garcia Moreno doubted doing it, because he thought that the country was not ready for such an honor. So he asked the Redemptorists to send fifty missionary priests to spiritually prepare the people for the Consecration. It was done with celerity. The President presented his project to the Bishops Council that was going on those days (1873) in Quito, and the Council approved it and enacted a Council Decree. Then he proposed it to the Chamber of Deputies and they also approved it unanimously and enacted a Legislative Decree that in his main part reads: The Republic of Ecuador is consecrated to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus that has been proclaimed its Owner and Protector. Its declared first class National Holiday the Most Sacred Hearts. The 25th of March of 1874, in a solemn ceremony that took place simultaneously in all of the Ecuadors churches, and being present the civil authorities alongside the religious ones, Ecuador was publicly and officially consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, being the first country in the world to do so. "Only under the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, only under the Cross Ecuador will be Ecuador and Ecuadorians truly Ecuadorians. said Garcia Moreno. This Consecration will uphold the Catholic Faith in the years beyond, which will be ominous for the Church, also said our Holy Mother, and we do believe that the Consecration is the reason to still have faith in Ecuador, despite the ruthless attack of freemasonry, that has in its hands the education of new generations since the time of the liberal dictator Alfaro.

CHAPTER 4 THE VIRTUES OF GARCIA MORENO Between the many virtues of Garcia Moreno, there are some little unknown for most people. Here are some anecdotes in this regard. 4.1 Charity His salary for his homeland In 1860, when he was elected President of Ecuador for the first time, Garcia Moreno, without being a man of fortune and despite the needs of his own family, donated half his salary to the public purse and the other half to charity. The sick, the lepers and the orphan children Close to Government House was the hospital in Quito. When starting his second term, Garcia Moreno announced to the Congress: "Our beneficence houses show a disgusting spectacle, unworthy of civilized and Christian people, not just as a result of inadequate income, but mainly by the lack of charity of those who serve there." So he brought the 19

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Sisters of Charity for the spiritual care of the sick. Soon the hospital was considered one of the best in Latin America. One day he visited the hospital and found an embarrassing spectacle: the sick were lying on the ground. Outraged, he told the director: How come these poor people don't have what is necessary? Mr. President, we lack resources... answered the director. From what I see, this does not prevent you from enjoying good health and lying down on a mattress, while the sick have to sleep on the floor. I promise you, Mr. President, that in a few weeks we will remediate their needs. Well, but you will lie down here on a mat on the floor this night and the following, until each of these patients have decent mattress and sheets. Of course, before the end of the day, there were beds and mattresses for all patients, and the director was able to sleep peacefully at his home. There was also a leprosy center in Ecuador. One day, Garcia Moreno suddenly appeared at noon to eat with the lepers. He talked at length with them. Before leaving, he gave an emphatic order: their food should be improved immediately. After some months, he came back without being announced, and ate again with the sick to verify if his order was obeyed. Garcia Moreno also took care of the many abandoned and orphaned children. He entrusted the abandoned ones to the Sisters of Charity, in a building bestowed by a donor and fitted by him for it. The government was responsible for equipping and sustaining it. The orphans were entrusted to the Sisters of Providence. After his death, both establishments had to fight hard to survive. The Indians The expulsion of the Jesuits left in neglect more than 200,000 Indians, on the banks of the Amazon Rivers. When Garcia Moreno ascended to the presidency for the second time, he ordered the Jesuit missionaries to found a school in each village, maintained by the Government, for attending children up to 12 years in the teaching of Spanish language, arithmetic, music and Christian doctrine. The apostolic work of the missionaries was extraordinarily successful. They founded twenty villages with 10,000 Christians in two years. The founder of the Communist Party of Ecuador, Emilio Uzcategui, gives us his testimony: "The Visitor of the Christian Brothers, Don Jose, wanted to train indigenous teachers so he brought five Indians to Quito from Loja. The President was interested in raising this issue and ordered the Brother to travel and find new students in Otavalo, Cotacachi and San Pablo. From the twelve Indians that were prepared for teaching in 1875, five were to exercise in Imbabura and Loja. Another ten remained in Quito, receiving from the Government food, clothing and school supplies. In some towns of the Eastern Region, the Jesuit had schools for the Indians, with a total population of five hundred students." The prisoners To carry out the prison reforms Moreno found two men of his confidence: a Governor and a Chaplain. The prison changed its character and became a school and a workshop. The Chaplain taught his pupils Christian doctrine, in addition to reading, writing, and 21

arithmetic. This was followed by instruction in various trades according to the prisoner's aptitude. To encourage them in their progress, spiritual and temporal, the President promised not only to shorten the imprisonment, but that their entire sentence would be revoked to those who deserved it. No were in vain his hopes, because many prisoners were entirely reformed. 4.2 Honesty and Austerity Garcia Moreno didnt steal and didnt let steal. Staunch enemy of waste, he saved all he could to fulfill his duty as guardian of the public wealth. So Garcia Moreno never spent on banquets, walks and rewards to his supporters and relatives: The first time that he was elected president, he gave the money of the banquet to a hospital. This austerity was necessary because of the excessive expenses of previous presidencies. His lofty Catholic principles were always the north of all his acts. 4.3 Humbleness Garcia Moreno attributed the successes to God, the mistakes to himself: "If I have committed mistakes, I ask forgiveness a thousand times to my compatriots with the most sincere tears, in the sureness that it was not my will. If by the contrary you think that Ive done good, attribute it to God and the Immaculate Dispenser of the inexhaustible treasures of His mercy, and then to you: the people, the army and all those that in different branches of government have assisted me with intelligence and loyalty to fulfill my difficult duties." 4.4 Benevolence Beyond the necessary corrections in order to sow peace in the Republic, these exercised with much chagrin, Garcia Moreno never attacked his persecutors. He never banished his staunch detractor, Juan Montalvo, who after his assassination, boastfully wrote: "My pen killed him." He also granted numerous pardons in 1861 and 1864 and from 1869 to 1873 annually, despite that the chaos in the fledgling nation deserved an iron hand to prevent uprisings and even invited his enemies to take part in the government. In that way, he offered to Abelardo Moncayo, a staunch liberal and one of his murderers, the Directorate of School Santa Prisca, that Moncayo rejected. 4.5 Love for his family He deeply loved both his first wife as the second. When Rosita, the first one, died, he wrote to a friend: The prostration of mind that I have since the days of my unexpected tragedy, prevented me replying to the friends who, like you, have accompanied me in my sorrow." Due the exigencies of his patriotic work, Garcia Moreno never enjoyed long times with his family, including in tragic circumstances like the premature death of eight daughters; four from his first wife and four from the second one. When one of his dead daughters was taken from his arms he wept bitterly, exclaiming: Oh, how weak I am, and I thought I was so strong!" So he centered all his paternal love in his only son, Gabrielito. In his letters he always sent him thousand caresses and kisses, carried with him one of his drawings and bought him marzipans and boxes full of toys. 22

CHAPTER 5 THE HISTORY JUDGEMENT Despite the enormous historic slanders about Garcia Moreno created by Freemasonry, here we quote some opinions about him, both from followers and from detractors. 5.1 Words from his followers The Peruvian historian Francisco Garcia Calderon, in his book Latin America: its Rise and Progress summed accurately the character and work of Garcia Moreno: "Tirelessly, stoic, fair, strong in their decisions, admirably logical in his life, Garcia Moreno is one of the biggest personalities in American history. In fifteen years he transformed completely a small country according to a wide political conception that only death prevented him from consummating. Spanish mystic type, he was not satisfied with the sterile contemplation, but he needed action: he was a creator and an organizer." Jorge Luna Yepez. Ecuadorian revisionist politician and writer, says: "His category belongs to that of the great Spanish heroes; through him the voice of the race spoke with an unmistakable, formidable accent. Juan Leon Mera, Ecuadorian writer and author of the national anthem of Ecuador: "Whoever honors Garcia Moreno, honors the motherland that was his mother. Remigio Crespo Toral, a native poet from Cuenca, about Garcia Moreno, in a 1885 speech: "Free as the lion in the bush, free as the eagle in height and free as the wind in the mountains." Archbishop Federico Gonzalez Suarez, Ecuadorian historian: Garcia Moreno is the Sun of our history." The Ecuadorian priest Manuel Maria Palacios Bravo wrote, in his laureate poem Garcia Moreno, the following: "Foreigner, if you seek into the seas Of the American India, The noble paragon of the human greatness That in the altars of Athens and Rome Deserved glory on a base; Come to this land, the heart of the world! Here, where the succession of volcanoes; Its mouth of granite opened to the sun, With the undulating tongue of its flames Lick the blue stone of the infinite, Here where the condor spreads its arrogance, You'll see the man that you're looking for: Incline your forehead: its he! Garcia the Great! The Spaniard historian Ricardo Garcia Villoslada, Jesuit priest, states: "The figure of Gabriel Garcia Moreno in the political-religious aspect is the highest and 23

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most pure and heroic throughout America, and looses nothing in comparison with the most highlighted personalities of Christian Europe in its best times. Enough alone, without needing others, to make the Republic of Ecuador be worthy of a bright chapter in the annals of the Church. The Colombian poet, Belisario Pea, wrote: "Born to be a Sir, with pride, Could reign as a King since his cradle. Nothing to no one he owed, not to the fortune And his strength was the same than his ambition. Arm of a hero, head of a genius, So he loved his homeland, that one by one, He opened for it every path Of goodness and greatness And they hated him!" Friedrich Hassaurek, writer and Ambassador to Ecuador from the U.S. government during Garcia Morenos second period, wrote: Garcia Moreno was clearly the most brave man of Ecuador and probably of all Hispanic America: always ready to sacrifice his life. Louis Veuillot, French prose, wrote the following at his death: "He was the oldest of the moderns, a man who honors man". He also wrote that he was "a man of Christ in public life, a man of God." Joseph Le Gouhir and Rhodes, French Jesuit priest and historian: "...He offers us the most revered example of the great man, the real "superman", the most accurate and noble picture of heroism, the man most worthy of his Creator and the most similar to God incarnate. Nicolas Espinosa, President of Ecuadorian Congress in 1865: "Like Pericles, Garcia Moreno was the most useful citizen of the Fatherland. He did more charitable work in five years of administration than what all the previous governments did in three centuries." Francisco Javier Leon, Interim President of Ecuador after Garcia Morenos death: "Garcia Moreno is the most pure, virtuous and noble man that I have ever known." Remigio Crespo Toral, Ecuadorian poet and historian: "Ecuador owes him its second independence." "Garcia Moreno is an undisputed glory of the Fatherland, and his greatness has been imposed with the effectiveness of virtue and justice." Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra, five times President of Ecuador: "The hardness of Garcia Moreno was in line with the legal sense of the times in which he acted. () On the other hand, what a wisdom, what a personal courage, what honesty in economics, and what a capacity of prevention to the service of future generations!" "Garcia Moreno is one of the few, very few great men, who has produced the Republic of Ecuador, if we give the expression great man the real meaning that it must be." 25

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"Garcia Moreno is the biggest political and moral figure of the Fatherland." Mario Andre, French historian: "Garcia Moreno is not only the greatest man of Ecuador, but also of the Americas, and one of the biggest in history." Victor Leon Vivar, Ecuadorian journalist killed by the Liberals: "In politics -no matter what we said- was Garcia Moreno who, for the first time among us, taming the anarchy, laid the foundations of a well-understood freedom." Marcelino Menendez y Pelayo, Spanish historian, philosopher, literary critic and writer: Garcia Moreno is "one of the noblest forms of human dignity that in this nineteenth century may glorify our race. The Republic that produced such a man may be poor, obscure and forgotten, but with him it has enough to live with honor in history." Francisco Garcia Calderon, a prominent Peruvian writer, states: Carlyle would have ranked him in the gallery of heroes." Jose Belmonte, in his "Contemporary History of Latin America", he writes: "And in those moments that Ecuador is heading to the anarchy, emerged as a prominent landmark a political figure of exceptional magnitude. It alone stands out from all the other figures of the nineteenth-century in Ecuador, Gabriel Garcia Moreno." Jose Luis Vazquez Dodero, Spanish writer, qualifies Garcia Moreno: "...not only the first and greatest of the Ecuadorians, but one of the true extraordinary men who America has produced... Rarely has appeared such an amazing mix of energy, physical and moral... The extraordinary character of Garcia Moreno and the fervor with which he was assisted by the Ecuadorian people, tempt us to apply the word charisma, to designate his wonderful faculties and the sublimation that Ecuadorians made of them." Manuel Galvez, Argentine writer, biographer and historian, synthesizes the trial World about Garcia Moreno in these words: "He had, at various doses, the moral grandeur of Saint Martin, the great momentum of Bolivar, the civilizing zeal of Rivadavia, the enormous willingness of Juan Manuel de Rosas, the universality spirit of Francisco de Miranda, the passion for order of Diego Portales, and the powerful dynamism of Domingo Sarmiento. And had what none of them had: the passion of Christian holiness, the supernatural life, the inner dialogue with God. Therefore, Gabriel Garcia Moreno is, for the people of Spanish America, a powerful beacon of light which emerged in a small Ecuador to illuminate the slow and painful way towards our glorious destiny."

5.2 Words from the opponents The secretary of the Communist Party of Ecuador, Pedro Saad, said in 1943: "but the miracle comes in 1860, embodied in a man who has been attacked mercilessly, who has been slandered by fanatics of history and that we, revolutionaries of the Twentieth Century, come to claim as one of the great builders of our nationality. That man slandered and attacked is Garcia Moreno, the great builder of Ecuadorian nationality. Garcia 27

Moreno is nothing but a symbol of this nation. Behind him go the masses of Ecuador, because he was a symbol that expressed the will to succeed, to build the Ecuadorian identity, to begin the national unity. Behind him go the people, because Garcia Moreno joined the people, understood their problems, lived with them their tragic hours (...) and the people marched with him to the end." Aparicio Ortega, Radical-Liberal Party member: "Garcia Moreno: superior genius to Olmedo, superior to Washington, the embodiment of well manhood, hotbed of genius and science, integrity and courage. Dazzling honesty, encyclopedic knowledge. He was a genius unrivaled in America, Giant of the Homeland, Cyclops of world history. Ecuadorians, if we dont worship the memory of Garcia Moreno the Great, we are worthy of being slaves!" Alejandro Carrion, Ecuadorian writer and left activist: "The Ecuadorian writers have completely failed to appreciate with justice the huge figure of Garcia Moreno and his portentous feat: they have written pleadings for his eternal condemnation or for his canonization. They have seen in him only the black or the bright, without appeasing the eyes to see the full great man full and the nuances of his actions Benjamin Carrion, Chairman of the Ecuadorian Culture House, ultra left-aligned man, opponent of Garcia Moreno: "In Gabriel Garcia Moreno, this exceptional personage, the notoriously most exceptional in the history of Republic of Ecuador, we must try to see, before man, the epoch in which he acted as a central and dominant figure." "I think the life of Garcia Moreno is the most transcendental, accomplished and dramatic of our entire history." Miguel de Unamuno, in his Preface to "Las Catilinarias" of Juan Montalvo, said: "Was a tyrant perhaps Garcia Moreno, the illustrated man, the civil man, who Montalvo admired in reality." Weve left for the final the amazing statements made by Juan Montalvo himself. In The stretching out of the Regenerator: "Garcia Moreno! What a man! Truly, what a man! Born to be a great man, individual of great intelligence, wise tyrant, big man of incredible courage and bravery, inventor, crafty, rich in resources and means, agile imagination, strong will, winner impetus." Finally says: "A lofty tyrant, with all the loftiness of his grandeur. Talent, knowledge, honesty, courage, unwavering energy of character, are his. Had no precedent in America." CONCLUSION Gabriel Garcia Moreno was a Christian. Saying it everything is implied. Maybe there are many christians but real Christians are few in the world. We can say a Christian is a person that really believes what the Christian Doctrine teaches, and in consequence, tries to apply this faith to all aspects of his life. 28

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Applying what you believe into your whole life is a necessity for Christians, because they believe that this is a doctrine issued by God himself. Its known as Christian coherence. Now there are Christian doctors, Christian advocates, Christian scientists, etc. Garcia Moreno was a Christian politician. Simply. No more and no less. Wonderfully gifted in mind and body, and passionate for the progress of his homeland. And with a personal seal: his tremendous bravery, announced by heaven two centuries before, that allowed him to live his life the way he believed it had to be lived. The reason for which those who hold the power have systematically slandered him is understandable: Since 1789, most of those who hold the power in the world are freemasons, liberals and radicals, and accordingly, enemies of Christianity. The word sacrifice was another sign of his life, and nobody until now seems to have repaired in it: he didnt have a minute of peace since he entered in politics. He could never enjoy the company of his wife (both of them) and his children. He lived knowing that his love for his homeland would cost his life one day, and even worse, that he would be terribly slandered after his death and that the fruit of his struggle would be lost but not for always, as he himself prophesied: "After my death, Ecuador will fall again in the hands of the revolution, that will reign despotically under the misleading name of liberalism, but the Sacred Heart of Jesus, whom I have consecrated my homeland, will free it once again from their claws, to make it live honest and free, under the great Catholic principles. Through the reading of some anecdotes we can see how he had a gentle soul and deep feelings, nothing farther from the picture of the insensitive man that some enemies have tried to convince us he was. His admiration and feelings for his wise mother, his tears for his eight lost children, his desire to rest in company of his wife, his happiness for finally having a child, his concerns about the Indians, the poor, the lepers (who dares to eat with them in the same table?), the orphan children, the prisoners, tells us of the ampleness of his heart. Its a tremendous mistake to judge the actions he was forced to take in order to pacify the Republic of mid nineteen century as if he were ruling Ecuador today. The dead that with so extreme insistence are claimed were killed mercilessly by him were all traitors to the homeland, military people who were plotting with the neighborhood governments to accede by force to power in Ecuador. If Garcia Moreno had not executed the law with them, Ecuador would not exist today, it surely would have been devoured by its neighboring countries. The verses in John 15, 18-20, give us light over the immortal figure of Garcia Moreno: "If the world hates you, know that before I have been hated too. If you were of the world, the world would love you as a thing of its own. But as youre not of the world, Ive chosen you and took you out from the world, the world hates you. Remember what I said: the server is not greater than his Lord. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. In the first 10 years after his death more than 80 biographies were written in the world. The Consecration of Ecuador in 1892 to the Immaculate Heart of Mary was made on 30

August 6, in honor to the anniversary of the martyrdom of Garcia Moreno. May God do one day that this beloved son of the Virgin receives the right place in history: Gabriel Garcia Moreno, the biggest Catholic statesman and patriot Ecuadorian that ever existed.

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