Samuel Ruiz En San Cristobal: Samuel Ruiz in San Cristobal

Meyer, a European historian who has taught for many years in Mexico and is an expert on the conservative Catholic (Cristero) revolts of the 1920s in Mexico, was asked to write this book by the Conference of Bishops of the Mexican Catholic Church. Samuel Ruiz was the liberal bishop of San Cristobal de Las Casas from 1960 to 1999. His empowering policies toward the Indians in the Mexican state of Chiapas were considered by many to have greatly contributed to the armed Zapatista revolt. Meyer describes the complicated role of the Catholic Church and Bishop Ruiz in Chiapas before and during the Zapatista uprising. This book, the author admits, was written quickly, and his narrative, which makes excessive use of lengthy direct quotations, presumes quite a bit of previous knowledge of the history of the Catholic Church in Mexico as well as of Catholic theology. It also fails to describe clearly how Ruiz himself evolved from a presumably conservative clergyman to one who espouses liberation theology. Nevertheless, it provides a great deal of factual information, in the text and in the appendixes, on the religious aspect of a significant social movement. For this reason, it will be of particular interest to academic libraries. Sonia Merubia, Benson Latin American Collection Serials Unit, General Libs., Univ. of Texas, Austin