Garcia Moreno: President of Ecuador (Annotated)

This inspiring and crucial biography written in 1890 by Fr. Berthe, a French priest, gives us the story of the incredible Gabriel García Moreno, the Catholic President of Ecuador the 1870s. Moreno courageously and untiringly rescued his beloved Ecuador from the Freemasonic nightmare it had over time become, and converted it into a nation organized on truly Catholic principles implementing the social Reign of Jesus Christ, Our King. Ecuador also enjoyed official relations with the Vatican and Pope Pius IX. As president, García Moreno constantly strove to do just what St. Thomas Aquinas teaches a good statesman should do: to foster the common good – especially that of virtue and holiness amongst his beloved Ecuadorians.
Against the evil forces of his day, Garcia Moreno’s Ecuador was only one of a few modern nations in which Catholicism reigned as the official State religion, and in which Freemasonry, false religions, and other pernicious cults were outlawed. Since he tirelessly implemented the Catholic Church’s consistent teaching on the union of Church and State (as opposed to the Freemasonic “separation of Church and State”), the Freemasonic fury knew no bounds. In contrast, the citizens loved Moreno and respected him as if he were their father since they witnessed the wonderful results of his work—both morally and economically.
Moreno was faced with frequent setbacks, threats, violence, and even physical attacks from the Freemasons and liberals who had a powerful influence on the country. These evil men were striving constantly for revolution and tyranny, and to undo the good as fast as Moreno could do it. But they misunderstood and underestimated the greatness of the man they dealt with, as he was strengthened by God.
The beautiful union of Church and State quickly produced its natural effects: virtue, happiness, peace, and order. Moreno sensed that his godless enemies’ frustrations had grown to the boiling point. He calmly prepared for death. Knowing that Moreno regularly went for pious devotions and liturgy to the cathedral next to the presidential palace, they ruthlessly assassinated him after he came out of the church one evening after he finished adoring Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. His last words were “God does not die!”
This book is simply a must-read for high school students and adults wishing to learn what a great, truly Catholic leader ought to be like, but more importantly, it teaches by example the very things that all leaders have a solemn duty to strive for.
Christ the King Books has carefully annotated Fr. Bethe’s classic biography. These annotations include many study helps: maps, pictures, countless important annotations, vocabulary definitions, and so on. This is truly a unique edition of this great work. Recommended for grades 11-12 and adults.