Francisco Xavier Bogarin

Among the priests that have an active participation in the process of independence of the Paraguay, Francisco Javier Bogarín is worth mentioning. He was born in Carapeguá, located in Paraguarí Department, 66 kilometers from Asunción, in 1763. He was the eldest of the members of the First Board.

His parents were Francisco Bogarín and María Paula Villamayor. It is believed that he died in the beginnings of 1830.

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He went to Universidad de Córdoba (University of Córdoba), Argentina. There he met two of the fathers of the Argentine independence, Juan José Paso and Mariano Medrano.

He ordain priest and received his Ph.D. in Holly Theology in Corrientes, Argentina.

He returned to Paraguay around the year 1789.

Before the Paraguayan Independence

Many people from different parts of society supported the Revolution. Among the religious were many, some of them even were among the first revolutionaries. Their participation in the movements that worked towards obtaining the independence was due, not just to their intellectual education, but also to the great influence the Catholic Church had at that moment in time.

Therefore, it is not surprising that one of the members of the first government formed entirely by Paraguayan citizens was the priest Francisco Xavier Bogarín.

To understand better the participation of the church ministers in the revolution, is convenient to remember some interesting and significant elements at the time. Firstly, the church was strongly involved in the political life of the country. Secondly, due to their education, the priests were well aware of all the modern philosophies at that time. In general, in all the processes of independence in America, in some with more participation than in others, members of the church were present. The great influence of the priests over the attitude of the people was, and still is, an element of importance in the political situation of a country and its process of transformation.

One of the motives for Independence

Since May 25, 1810 Buenos Aires had made clear its intentions of wanting to add Paraguay as one of its provinces, a decision that was to be taken by the Government. The incompetence of the Spanish Governor Bernardo de Velazco, who maintain relations with Portuguese forces, plus the demonstration of courage and bravery of the Paraguayan army that confronted Argentina, resulted in the accomplishment of the Paraguayan independence on May 14 and 15, 1811.

The new government

The officers that confronted Velasco, after intimidating him, created a new government that was integrated by Velasco, Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, and the Spanish captain Juan Valeriano Zevallos, who took the side of the Paraguayan patriots. The ceremony of oath took place in the afternoon of the 15 with the presence of Cavallero, Rivarola, Vicente Iturbe, Juan Iturbe and others.

The new government was known with the name of Triunvirato (a rule of tree people) and started to work in the morning of the 16.

The fathers of the Paraguayan Independence were:

* Fulgencio Yegros
* Pedro Juan Caballero
* Vicente Ignacio Iturbe
* Mauricio José Troche
* Antonio Tomás Yegros
* Fernando de la Mora
* Francisco Javier Bogarín
* Mariano Antonio Molas
* Juan Bautista Rivarola

After the Independence

The first meeting of the emancipated Congress was on June 17, 1811. In this meeting, proposed by Mariano Antonio Molas, the Congress took Bernardo de Velazco y Huidobro out of the charge and created the Junta Superior de Gobierno (Superior Board of Government), which had Lieutenant Colonel Fulgencio Yegros as President, José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, Captain Pedro Juan Cavallero, Priest Francisco Javier Bogarín and Fernando de la Mora as members.

This board took charge of the public affairs on June 20 and one of its first and most important resolutions was to proclaim the new Town Council and send a note on July of the same year to Buenos Aires, expressing the will of Paraguay to remain free and independent.

The work of the First Superior Board of Government.

The government of the board was very good and they were able to achieve many things, among them are worth mentioning: the reform and promotion of public education, the reopening of the courses of high school education, the creation of the Sociedad Patriótica Literaria (Patriotic Literary Society), the founding of the first military academy and the first public library. Unfortunately, the dictatorship of Rodríguez de Francia would put an end to those progresses.

The board governed only 2 years and 4 months.

The Congress, met in the temple of Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, on September 30, 1813, and created the First Consulate, which would replace the Board of Government. The members of the Consulate were Fulgencio Yegros and José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia. The Congress also declared solemnly the independence of Paraguay from all other power but the power of the own nation and change the name from Province to Republic, adopted the national flag and the escutcheon.

The first Consulate government ruled since October 12, 1813 and lasted a year. Among its accomplishments can be listed: the regularization of the economy, stopping the abuses committed by the public officials, the effort to establish commercial relations with European nations, the improvement of army and the execution of a strict moral regimen in the administration.

Francisco Javier Bogarín was removed from his charge on September 2, 1811, after participating in the meeting organized by the First Board of Government, the motives were never clarified.

After that, Bogarín left the politics completely.

References

* Enciclopedia Histórica del Paraguay.
* EVP - Wikipedia
* [http://www.evp.edu.py/index.php?title=Portada Enciclopedia Virtual Paraguaya - Portal]