Reseña

Looking up at a dark sky full of stars and dimensioning its infinite greatness, invites us to transport ourselves in time; to those moments that marked our essence, our roots and who we are as a society today. It is precisely on this journey, where the soul is filled with solemnity and wonder. The city of Santo Domingo, owner of the most beautiful and transcendent first fruits of the New World, such as: the unshakable Fortress, the majestic Cathedral, the imposing Town Hall Building... make it worthy of the distinction of “World Heritage” . Our city is also known from the beginning of its foundation, and for the high studies that were formed in it, as the “Athens of the New World’’.

Within this rosary of milestones, the one that gives the highest honor to our city, our country and the New World is The Sermon of Advent, proclaimed in our capital in the voice of Friar Antonio de Montesino, who claims inalienable rights to its inhabitants and landowners; respect for their dignity; and, even more, it demands benevolence from the victor in front of the defeated. This event was the one that shook the Spanish consciousness by awakening minds and souls of Europe; and consequently of America, inspiring the Human Rights that we happily enjoy today.

On a journey of reflection and thought, Grupo SID embarks on this historic journey by the hand of its author María Teresa Ruiz de Catrain, first inspired by the laudable vision of the Mayor of the city of Santo Domingo, David Collado, who -with his great patriotic sense- restored and valued the Friar Antonio de Montesino Monument, donated by the State of Mexico in 1982. Tears rolled in front of our Caribbean Sea for over 20 years when this symbol of freedom and human rights was abandoned and turned into a den of perversion and sin. Thanks to this important initiative of the Mayor of the National District, we freed our imagination, allowing us to leave this invaluable legacy for history thus fulfilling our responsibility as citizens.

This manifesto is a journey through the corners of consciousness and history guided through that voice that rose thousands of years ago in the desert of humanity and that goes back to the principles of thought and abstraction; of faith and reason and the right to human dignity, foundations of the Order of Saint Dominic de Guzmán still present in our nation.

This issue that we present today is accompanied by testimonies expressed in the Documentary Five Centuries of Advent, which enrich our content and for which we feel highly grateful to allow us to use them.

Our author, María Teresa Ruiz de Catrain assumed this project as her own since its conception. In addition to being a writer, she is a cultural manager and lover of the Colonial City of Santo Domingo and its history. To her we owe every detail, every precision and that impeccable thread that allows us to travel in time like birds hungry for faith, love and humanity. With her unique and passionate way of representing not only what happened in the past, but what she will represent for future generations, Maria Teresa manages to make our dream come true and transform it into a magnificent and valuable contribution to our country and the world.

The images that you will see in this book are a reflection of the magical and transforming eye of a great Dominican talent, who along this journey has found the light in each dusk and the divinity in each dawn: Pedro Álvarez Félix, who is without a doubt a key piece in the contribution that we make today.

We will be eternally grateful for his solidarity and unconditional work, and for being at our side during each step.

We feel privileged and honored to contribute with this historical meditation, which seeks to renew the spirit of law and dignity: Montesino: Ego vox clamantis in deserto, words of the Sermon of Advent proclaimed in our city of Santo Domingo... that we love so much.