Chronology

José Porfirio Miranda’s Chronology

1924 – 2001

	PART I The Miranda De La Parra Family (1895-1940) PART II Society of Jesus (1941-1969) PART III The Existential Crisis (1970-1978) PART IV The Turn Towards Philosophy (1979-2000) PART V The Final Phase (2001-2003)
YEAR	PERSONAL MOMENT	HISTORICAL MOMENT
	PART I The Miranda De La Parra Family (1985-1940)
1895	José Quintín de Miranda González Arce born in Mexico City.
1899	María Eugenia de la Parra, daughter of Cayetano de la Parra, owner of a Hacienda producing cement in the state of Durango, is born.
1907	José Quintín de Miranda studies in the Jesuit College of Mascarones in Mexico City
1910		The Mexican Revolution starts on November 20^th.
1911	The Parra Irigoyen family goes to live in Mexico City.	General Porfirio Diaz leaves the country on July 7^th and Francisco I. Madero is elected President.
1913		Madero is assassinated on February 9^th. The dictatorship of Victoriano Huerta is imposed. The beginning of religious persecution.
1914		Start of the First World War in Europe. Death of Pope Pius X and the election of Pope Benedict XV.
		Venustiano Carranza becomes President of Mexico..
1917	The new Mexican Constitution is signed on February 9^th in Queretaro. Some articles are detrimental to the Catholic Church. Article #3 imposes lay education. Jose Quintín de Miranda begins work as a bank clerk.
1919		End of First World War with the defeat of Germany and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles
1920		May 21^st Venustiano Carranza is assassinated and General Alvaro Obregón becomes President..
1922	July 25^th José Quintín de Miranda González Arce and María Eugenia de la Parra Irigoyen are married in the Sta. Brigida church in Mexico City. In Rome Pope Benedict XV dies and Pius XI is elected.
1923	The de Miranda moves to Monterrey, Nuevo Leon. On the Cubilete hill in Guanajuato a monument to Cristo Rey is erected.
	Don José Quintín becomes the manager of the Banco Francés there
1924	On Monday, September 15, during the night of the ‘Grito’, their eldest son, is born in Monterrey: José Porfirio Miranda de la Parra.
1925*	The de Miranda family falls on difficult times.	The Banco Nacional de México opens and monopolizes finance.
		The Banco Francés closes its doors.
1926	Sr. de Miranda joins the Banco Nacional de México and he and the family return to Mexico City.
	August 25^th their second son, Luis Alfonso is born.. The Cristero movement begins because of the unjust laws against the Catholic clergy.
1927	Doña María Eugenia de la Parra de Miranda agrees to take the eucharist to the Sacred Heart Nuns. With baby Porfirio in her arms she carries the wafer box in her bosom. November 23^rd the Jesuit Padre Miguel Augustín Pro is executed by firing squad.. Sra. María Eugenia was emotionally overcome and in December her third son, Moisés Francisco, is born.
1928		On Tuesday July 27^th General Álvaro Obregón, recently re-elected as President, was killed by José de León Toral in ‘La Bombilla’ restaurant in San Angel, Mexico City.
		Emilio Portes Gil is named interim president and bishops and priests are exiled..
1929	María Enriqueta, the de Miranda family’s first daughter, is born.	The Great Depression begins to be felt.
		March 4^th the Partido Nacional Revolucionario (now known as the PRI) is founded by General Calles.
		Portes Gil triumphs in the first post-revolutionary elections against Lic. José Vasconcelos who is forced into exile. A settlement of the conflict between the Catholic Hierarchy and the Mexican Government begins.
1930	Don Quintín is named manager of the new branch of the Banco Nacional de México in Orizaba, Veracruz.
	María Eugenia, the mother, lives sometimes in Orizaba and sometimes in Mexico City. May 15^th Pope Pius XI publishes the sociopolitical encyclic to celebrate 40 years of Pope Léon XIII’s famous encyclic “Rerum Novarum” on modern social problems
1931	Now 6 years old, Porfirio starts primary school and celebrates his first communion privately as religious persecution continues in the State of Veracruz.
	In Mexico City the fifth child, María Eugenia, named after her mother, is born
1933	Porfirio Miranda is in third grade
	Their mother gives birth to María Elena, her sixth child. While at school because of the anti-religious atmosphere the Catholics were made fun of and the three Miranda brothers gloried in their bravery and became famous for using their fists in defense of their beliefs.
1934	The Banco Nacional de México transfers Sr. de Miranda to Torreón, Coahuila as manager of the new branch there.	General Lázaro Cárdenas becomes president.
	Now the de Miranda family travels to the Lagunera region.	“Socialist” education is implemented.
	On September 15^th Porfirio is ten years old.
1935	He is home schooled in fourth grade as there are no good schools in Torreón.
	The first child born in La Laguna is María Dolores.
1936	In November the de Miranda’s last child, María Cristina, is born..	Plutarco Elías Calles is exiled..
1937	Don José Quintín sends his three sons to the Jesuit boarding school, ‘Instituto Oriente’, in Puebla
	Porfirio finishes primary school and decides to become a Jesuit. In Mexico City Luis María Martínez Rodríguez becomes the Primate Archbishop of Mexico.
1938	Don José Quintín uses his influence to establish a satisfactory educational institution in La Laguna. He tried the Jesuits but the La Salle brotherhood, who have been in Mexico since 1905, are the ones who respond favorably.	On March 18^ththe oil industry is expropriated during the Cardenas presidency. Poco después, se decreta el ejido como motor de la producción Agraria.
1939	On February 8^th the French Institute opens in La Laguna with 62 students in Gómez Palacio near Torreón.	In September the Second World War starts when Adolf Hitler invades Poland.
	José Porfirio is enrolled in the first year of the recently opened secondary school and his brothers in primary school. .
	In November the political party PAN is founded and proposes that a Christian
1940	In September when Porfirio turns sixteen he goes to the Apostólica de la Compañía de Jesús School where he finishes his secondary education.	The Post-revolutionary atmosphere lessens in all of the Mexican Republic.
		The last general as President of Mexico, Manuel Ávila Camacho, is elected.
	PART II The Society of Jesus (1941-1969)
1941	Since the twenties, when religious persecution was at its height, the Society of Jesus had cooperated with “Isleta College” in El Paso, Texas for the formation of its Mexican students.	WW2 extends into the Pacific Ocean..
	Porfirio Miranda studied high school here and is also a postulant.	Japan supports the Nazis. The US allies itself with England and France. Mexico participates with the 201 Squadron.
1942		The persecution of the Jews increases in Europe..
		Concentration camps multiply.
		One renown victim is the intellectual Jewess, Edith Stein, who converted to Catholicism. The Nazis arrested her on August 7^th at the Carmelite Convent in Echt, Holland, and send her to Auschwitz where she becomes a martyr after they send her to the gas chambers. Today she is the patroness of the European Community.
1943-1945	Porfirio Miranda studies his novitiate for two years.
	He is formed by the strong almost military discipline of the Jesuits..
1945	Porfirio excels in English, French, Latin and Greek.	WW2 ends with the defeat of the Nazis.
	In September he begins his masters in Philosophy at Loyola University in Los Angeles, California.	Estados Unidos arroja, en agosto, sobre Hiroshima y Nagasaky, Japón, nuevas y cruelísimas bombas que desvirtúan su triunfo en Europa.
	His passion for Philosophy is awakened and his polemic character towards his teachers and fellow students appears. He always wants to get to the bottom of things.
1946		Miguel Alemán Valdés is elected as the first civilian post-revolutionary president.
1948	Porfirio studies a masters in Social Sciences.	The UN publishes the Declaration of Human Rights. Israel is given land to form a nation.
	This is the time he decides to deeply investigate the Society and the meaning of Christianity in history. These are his two fundamental interests.
1951	Porfirio returns to Mexico. He goes to the “Instituto de Ciencias” created by the Jesuits in Guadalajara, Jalisco..	The States start the Korean War to stop the expansion of socialism to Japan. An agreement to divide Korea along the 38 parallel is established. Korea is still divided today.
	He spends two years there to do his Masters where the Society of Jesus train their teachers.
1952	The Father Superiors of the Society of Jesus consider that Porfirio should go to Europe to continue his studies due to his intelligence, knowing that his discipline guarantees his future.	Adolfo Ruiz Cortines becomes president of Mexico.
1953	Porfirio flies to Rome.
	He says goodbye to his family..
	September 18^th he joins the Jesuit “Universidad Gregoriana” to study theology. This ecclesiastic course is necessary to become a priest. Immediately Porfirio learns Italian with ease.
	Saturday October 17^th his father, Don José Quintín de Miranda González Arce, dies of lung cancer in Mexico City.
	His father had always been his model: As a progressive man As a fighter against adversity As an illustrious Christian.
1954	Porfirio starts a diary in a note book about his impressions and emotions, as well as his discussions with the teachers and his reflections about the authors he is analyzing.
	These note books he called “Occurrencias” (Occurences). He wrote in them up until a few days before his death.
1955	From there he goes to study theology in the “Hochschule Sankt Georgen” in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
	With admirable speed he learns to speak, read and write German.
1956	In the city of Azpeitia, in the province of Guipuzcoa in the Basque country in the north of Spain, is the town where Ignacio de Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, was born. Here on the town’s Saint’s day, July 31^st, José Porfirio Miranda de la Parra is ordained. His mother and four of his sisters accompany him.
	During August, Porfirio, his mother and his sisters rent a van and visit various Spanish towns. Then they cross France along the Riviera, and into Italy where they visit Milan, Venice, Florence and Rome. On Wednesday, August 15^th they attend a public papal audience in the Castelgandolfo with Pope Pius XII.
1957	Porfirio returns to Mexico.
	In his Jesuit community and with some bishops, Porfirio has his first experience of confrontation with scepticism which he later identifies as “Complejo Psicológico” (Psychological Complex).
	He feels the need to study economics to be able to demonstrate the error of these biased sceptics.
1958	Miranda returns to Europe to specialize in economy at the Münster University in Germany.	In Mexico a professor, Adolfo López Mateos, is elected president.
	Here he participates and follows carefully the Dialogues started that year in Europe by Erich Kellner, founder of the Society of Saint Paul, and his followers: Karl Rahner, Jacques Maritain, Ernest Boch, Roger Garaudy, Herbert Marcuse and others about whether a Christian can be a Marxist.
	Porfirio devotes himself to investigating the complete works of Karl Marx in the original 19^th Century German.
	By the end of this year Porfirio has written a book entitled “Cristo Hoy” (Christ Today) where he urges people to unmercifully increase their sense of responsibility. He is not allowed to publish it (It is still unpublished).
1959		On the first day of this year the Cuban Revolution overthrows the Batista dictatorship.
		Commander Fidel Castro begins to be considered an example for Latin Americans in their struggle against military dictatorships.
1961	Porfirio returns to Mexico and because of his study of economics he is sent to the Facultad de Comercio y Administración Pública in the Instituto Technológico e Estudios Superiores de Occidente (ITESO) run by the Jesuits in Guadalajara, Jalisco.
	Cardenal José Garibi Rivera appoints Porfirio Miranda as Ecclesiastic Advisor to the Centros Patronales (Groups of Businessmen).
	The Advisory Office questions the actions of the business owners and is on the side of the workers. The first do not take any notice of him and Porfirio decides to advise the latter to set up independent unions in accordance with the teachings of the encyclic “Rerum Novarum” of Pope Leo XIII.
1962	The ire of the business owners increases until the classic “anonymous threats” of death are received. The Cardinal of Guadalajara forces the Society of Jesus to remove Porfirio from the archdiocese. . Porfirio is accepted by a Jesuit community in the provinces in the state of Chihuahua. Because of this contradictory experience, Miranda says with great preoccupation: “How difficult is the opposition when one wants to do something important in the world.”	Thursday, November 22^nd, the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, is assassinated.
1963-1964	In the school “Regional de Chihuahua” Miranda is Vice Rector and the Rector is Gómez Michel.
	Here Porfirio shows his colors because he expresses what everyone is thinking and would like to say but do not dare. June 3^rd Pope John XXIII dies in Rome and Paul VI is elected.
	With his convincing oratory, incendiary and radically leftist, he attracts the adolescents and youth of the Regional School of America and Sacred Heart School to start the Christian Social Democratic Movement.
	He backs the workers at FAT (Authentic Workers Front) recently founded in 1960 when the Pepsi-Cola workers went on strike.
	He fights passionately from within the Jesuit Community against the conservative youth of the “corporation”.
	With the same passion he fights against the textbooks put out by the SEP (Public Education Secretariat). His argument is: free textbooks, yes, but not the only ones or the mandatory ones.
	The business sector, the conservative clergy, the heads of schools band together and the Archbishop of Chihuahua formally and rapidly expels Porfirio Miranda from the Archdiocese. August 6^th the United States starts its bitter experience of the Vietnam War.
	In his “Occurencias” he says he is persecuted for looking for justice; but he also expresses an unutterable suffering caused by incomprehension.
1965		Gustavo Díaz Ordaz becomes president
	Porfirio is to be found in Torreón with his mother in their family home. She has always been on the Jesuit’s side but now begins to favor her son’s truths.
	Porfirio decides to write his first book, a result of all his studies up to now and his experiences in the social struggle in the last five years.
	Financed by his brother, Luis Alfonso, he manages to publish “Hambre y Sed de Justicia” (Hunger and Thirst for Justice), on June 11^th at the Editorial Progreso, S.A. This was inspired in Matthew 5,6 “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled”.
	In the book is found a moral legal proceedings of the socio-economic reality of Mexico and an interpretation of Social Christian Doctrine. In December in Rome the Vatican Ecumenical Council II finishes
1966	Porfirio makes one last attempt to find out if the Society of Jesus and the Catholic Hierarchy will be responsible for and support the poor.
	Between July 25^th and 29^th there is a meeting of the Superiors of the Latin American Jesuits in Lima, Peru.
	Porfirio attends as a theological lecturer insisting that the Society takes a stand about the injustice of today in the world.
	During the meeting a center is created known as CIAS (Center of Investigation and Social Action in Latin America). This was counseled by the Jesuit Father, Pierre Bigó Jesuit and a document was made insisting that the General Superior of the Jesuits make a pronouncement on the social obligation of the Society towards the poor.
	December 12^th a letter is sent by Padre Pedro Arrupe, the General Superior, to all the provinces of Latin America on the social problem and fight for justice.
1967	On Easter Sunday, March 26^th, Paul VI publishes his encyclic “Popolorum Progressio”, with which the poor appeal dramatically to the rich..
	Even though the Papal letters were ahead of their time the consequences of the letter from the General Superior of the Jesuits caused conflicts. Between the Jesuits themselves the positions were divided. One section left teaching and went to the marginal sectors of society and a considerable number of Jesuits left the Society.
	The superiors in the Mexican province preferred that Miranda should go to Rome. He is now considered a problem.
	In September he registers in the Papal Biblical Institute in Rome to obtain his doctorate in Bible Sciences. He immediately specializes in Hebrew and old Syrian.
1968	In Rome, Porfirio presents his thesis on “Marx y la Biblia” (Marx and the Bible) showing that Karl Marx’s ideas on justice in society are of Judo-Christian origin.	SIn Medellin, Colombia, the first Post-Conciliar Meeting of CELAM (Episcopal Council of Latin America) takes place.
	The thesis is not accepted by the Synod.	In various parts of the world there are student uprisings. On October 2^nd the Tlaltelolco massacre takes place in Mexico City.
	Miranda experiences the contradiction of the ecclesiastical institutions. They teach one thing but their actions are different. They talk about advances but the field of investigation is hindered.	October 8^th Ernesto Ché Guevara, the Argentine revolutionary, is assassinated in Bolivia.
1969	Porfirio presents a new thesis in Rome on “El Ser y el Mesias” (Being and the Messiah), an explanatory study of the teachings of Saint John. With this paper he receives his doctorate. With these exegetic studies and the atmosphere of the Bible Institute, of the Vatican and the crisis within the Society of Jesus, all of which makes him come to the conviction that the hierarchical institution of the Catholic Church has not been faithful to the Gospel and that he cannot accept this infidelity. He begins to consider his obligations: not to be an accomplice to this infidelity.	El 29 de julio, el viaje del Apolo 11 en el que el hombre pisa la luna, constituye uno de los acontecimientos trascendentales de la historia del siglo XX.
	By the end of the year he is back in Mexico.
	He begins to consider his obligations: not to be an accomplice to this infidelity
	PART III The Existencial Crisis (1970-1978)
1970	Porfirio presides over the wedding of his brother, Moisés Francisco, in Mexico..	September 4^th, Salvador Allende, elected president of Chile, begins the experience of democratic socialism in Latin America.
	He joins the Jesuit Philosophy and Science Institute in San Angel in Mexico City. He says he feels “ as if in a golden cage without being able to leave or fly…”.	In December Lic. Luis Echeverria Álvarez takes possession of the presidency of Mexico.
	He decides to put in order all his papers on his studies of economy and exegesis with the intention of publishing them.
1971	Bishop Samuel Ruiz accepts for publication one of Miranda’s writings in a private edition of the diocese of San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas.
	April 15^th , the printing is finished of “Cambio de Estructuras”(Change of Structures), an attempt in thinking about the evangelic mandate with the social categories of Marx (in the future, Don Samuel uses his influence to get this published in Germany).
		May 14^th Pope Paul VI publishes his encyclic “Octogesima Advenies” 80 years after the “Rerum Novarum”.
	By September Porfirio’s anguish deepens because of the criticisms, sanctions, desertions and threats and he feels that his colleagues are giving him the cold shoulder.
	He quickly loses his eloquent, communicative and convincing personality.
	At Christmas, on Saturday December 25^th, with a very heavy heart José Porfirio Miranda de la Parra decides to leave the priesthood and the Society of Jesus. He writes down his reasons.
	He takes this decision in Torreón, in the family home, in the presence of his mother, his brother Luis Alfonso and his sister María Dolores.
1972	The publishers, Siglo XXI, in Mexico City, accept another of Miranda’s writings: “Marx en México” (Marx in Mexico), a thesis on the circulation of money.
	Don Sergio Méndez Arceo, Bishop of Cuernavaca, and Don Samuel Ruiz, Bishop of San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, try in all possible ways to persuade Porfirio to continue fighting from the inside of the Catholic Church.
	Some old colleagues offer him work in Zihuatanejo in a literacy program. He only stays there for a while. He feels out of place. He does not believe this is his mission. He wishes to dedicate himself to writing.
	He leaves Zihuatanejo and returns to Mexico City. He goes to live in Netzahuacoyotl, a very poor neighborhood where he dedicates himself to writing.
	He knocks on various doors looking for financial backing and only one of his old followers, Margot Palomar, answers favorably and one of his students from Guadalajara whose last name is Servin, gives him a secondhand car.
	At last in September the publishers, Sígueme in Salamanca, Spain, accepts his book: “Marx y la Biblia” (Marx and the Bible): later two editions were published in London and five in the States. This book is the most known, most read and the most polemic of Porfirio Miranda’s. The controversy is centered more in the title than in the content.
1973	Owing to the commercial success of his book, Sígueme, immediately publishes his doctoral thesis: “El Ser y el Mesías” (Being and the Messiah): afterwards an edition was published in the States and another in Italy. The idea was to bring out the exegesis from the marginalization imposed on it by the dogmatic theology of the Second Vatican Council.
	In September Miranda starts a class on the Philosophy of Justice in the law faculty at UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico).
		On that tragic day, September 11^th, in Chile, General Pinochet heads a military coup. President Salvador Allende is assassinated and a bloody ending ensues of the most unusual experiment of social change in the world.
	December 17^th the UAM (Metropolitan Autonomous University) is founded and is decentralized from the government.
1974	Porfirio plums to the depths of loneliness..
	Early Monday morning of February 25^th in Torreón, his mother, Doña María Eugenia de la Parra de Miranda dies of a heart attack. Her son, Porfirio, arrives a few hours later. Next day, the first Bishop of Torreón, Don Fernando Romo, celebrates the funeral.
	In August Porfirio Miranda becomes a professor of philosophy in the UAM on the Iztapalapa campus.
	He moves to the Colonia Modelo near the university.
	He begins to study Thomas Kuhn and the structures of the scientific revolutions where his interests are now inclined..	Richard Nixon, owing to his political espionage and obstruction of justice, is the first American president to resign. He is succeeded by Gerald Ford.

1975	On April 21^st Porfirio Miranda accepts and writes in his “Occurencias” that “Marxism as a philosophical system is dying; and as a political movement has not triumphed where it should and where it has it is an oppressor and annihilator of human kind. For their part the Christians obstinately continue their dogmatic and reactionary interpretation of the bible”.
		The States lose the Vietnam War on April 30^th.
	In the academic community of the UAM, the positivists and the analytic philosophers isolate and exclude Porfirio who prefers to teach in the main area, subjects taught in all the faculties where there are large groups of students and where he feels stimulated.
	Porfirio is now studying Karl Popper; he begins his criticism of positivism, empirism and naturalism from which his next book springs.	November 20^th General Franco dies in Spain and 36 years of military dictatorship die with him.
1976	Miranda’s life stabilizes with a fixed salary. He finds new friends from the university. His old disciples from Chihuahua begin to visit him. The workers from FAT (Workers Authentic Front) consult him. The organization of a union in the university begins.
		July 5^thJosé López Portillo is elected president of Mexico. In China the communist leader, Mao Tse-tung, dies at the age of 82.
	In the magazine “The Expository Times” appears a long article on his book in English “Marx and the Bible”. Written by Walter Wink who says that it is “the best book on exegesis published up until now”.
1977	On the arrival of a new academic director with a humanistic tendency in the Philosophy Department of the UAM, Porfirio is asked to collaborate in the making of the study plan from an historic and human perspective. This allows him to return to his philosophy professorship and begin to give a new course on “the thinking of Hegel”. He comments that “the interest in Hegel comes from Marxism and existentialism. The thinkers along these lines, entering in crisis, found it necessary to direct their attention to their origins: the works of Hegel”.

	Porfirio finds his new mission in the world: to be an investigator, philosopher and writer.
1978	Porfirio moves to his own house in Coyoacan in Mexico City. His new place allows him to dedicate earnestly to writing and also to marry.
	He is found debating on the radio and television. On various television programs he talks and debates with Ernesto de la Peña on Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Syrian and Arab roots in our language.
	Escribe en el periódico “Uno más uno”, en aquel año diario de izquierda de reciente fundación.
	This book is the least known and the least studied. Miranda says this book ends this epoch as investigator of Marxist thought.). He writes for the “Uno más Uno” a recently started leftist newspaper. He manages to publish a private edition of his book “El cristianismo de Marx” (Marx against the Marxist) which was translated and published in an English edition and two North American editions.	August 6^th Pope Paul VI dies. After Juan Paul I’s brief reign (he dies on September 29^th) the Pole Karol Wojtyla is elected John Paul II.
	Part IV The Turn Towards Philosophy (1979-2000)
1979		In January for the first time in history a Pope visits Mexico. Pope John Paul II begins his reign with a meeting of Latin American bishops in Puebla. Later in July he visits his homeland, Poland. June 10^th the EEC comes into being.
	July 6^th in Mexico City José Porfirio Miranda de la Parra marries María Adela Oliveros Maqueo. The bride’s brother the Jesuit priest Roberto Oliveros Maqueo presides over the ceremony. Here begins a marvelous mutual understanding, a reciprocal enriching, an exchange of experiences, a love which manifests itself in all the dedications in his philosophical books.
1980		In Nicaragua the Sandinists come to power overthrowing Somoza. March 23^rd in El Salvador Bishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero is assassinated. The guerrilla movement begins. In Poland the independent union “Solidarity” is officially recognized. In France Jean Paul Sartre, the existentialist philosopher, dies. May 13^th there is an attempt on the life of Pope John Paul II in Saint Peter’s Square in the Vatican.
1981	June 4^th Porfirio presents his small manifesto “Comunismo en la Biblia” (Communism in the Bible) in the Sala Fonágora at the Greek Cultural Center in San Angel. Many people attended. With this publication Miranda brings to an end his Exegete (Investigator of the Bible)	July 28^th in Peru there are the first democratic elections after a military dictatorship
1982	Porfirio gives conferences in Peru, Canada and the United States. At a Lutheran Theology Seminar “The Center for Global Service and Education” he meets the directors of the Premia Editora S.A. de Tlahuapan, Puebla. They offer to publish his next book.	Also in Bolivia a democratic government is formed.
	In August Porfirio buys 2000 m2 of land in the village of Temamatla in the State of Mexico at the foot of the volcanoes. He builds a house appropriate for the second stage of his life and plants an excellent orchard and vegetable garden. In September the Mexican banks are nationalized.
		In September the Mexican banks are nationalized. December 1^st Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado becomes president of Mexico.
1983		In May the first protest march against Pinochet takes place in Santiago de Chile. In Argentina, after the fiasco of the Falkland Islands war, the military leaves the government and there are democratic elections.
	In the second semester, Porfirio, very satisfied, presents his first philosophic work:“Apelo a la razón” (Using Reason) a theory of science and critique of positivism. It is considered his fundamental work. With it he ranks at the top of philosophical investigation in the Philosophy of Science and debate.
	Porfirio seems to have started his new mission: “investigate, write and publish what he has to say to the world”.
1985	En Temamatla, Porfirio se encuentra preparando su nuevo libro. La filosofía de la Ciencia lo ha llevado a la mina del Pensamiento de Hegel.	January 8^th the first democratic elections take place in Brazil after a decade of military dictatorship..
		September 19^th Mexico City suffers a very violent earthquake that causes the death of 20,000 people.
1986		The nuclear reactor at Chernobyl in the Soviet Union explodes.
	Because of electoral fraud committed in the State of Chihuahua against the PAN (National Action Party) Lic. Luis H. Álvarez protests by going on a hunger strike. After ten days Porfirio goes to the city of Chihuahua to encourage and compliment Don Luis because this struggle is part of the birth of democracy in Mexico.
		December 14^th the president of Mexico, Miguel de la Madrid, receives the “Más allá de la Guerra” award from the “Grupo Contadora” for his contribution to peace in Central America.
1988		The Chileans vote “NO” to having a permanent dictator. There are elections and the Partido Democratico Cristiano (Christian Democrat Party) wins.
	In the same month the publishers of UAM Iztapalapa finish printing Porfirio’s new book:“Hegel tenía Razón” , El Mito de la Ciencia Empírica (Hegel was Right – The Myth of Empiric Science). Miranda contends that “this is his system or paradigm, although it is presented as an interpretation of another philosophy”.	December 1^st Carlos Salinas de Gotari becomes president of Mexico.
1989		May 30^th Mihail Gorbachov accepts the presidency of the Soviet Union. Perestroika begins..
		October 9^th the Berlin wall falls.
1990		February 4^th Mexico and its principle banks sign a pact to reduce the external debt of the Mexican government.
		October 3^rd the two Germanys are reunited for the first time since the end of WWII.
		December 9^th Lech Walesa, leader of the Solidarity Union, is elected president of Poland.
1991-1992	Porfirio Miranda comes to an agreement with the publishers Sígueme in Salamanca.
	Porfirio accepts that the publishers change the title of his book “Hegel tenía Razón” to “La Revolución de la Razón“ (The Revolution of Reason).
	The publishers also agree to reprint his earlier book “Apelo a la Razón”.
	Now Porfirio is studying Vittorio Hösle the leading philosopher on the problems of justice between the first and third worlds.
	At the end of 1991 Porfirio suffers intense stress for which he is hospitalized. A journalist from the magazine “Proceso” manages to interview him and publishes an article on Sunday 23^rd entitled: “A Dios solo se llega por el camino de la justicia” (Through Justice is the only way to God).
	February 28^th 1992 Don Sergio Méndez Arceo, the foremost thinking bishop of Mexico, dies. Porfirio is deeply affected.
1993	Porfirio devotes his time to publishing articles in the “Jornada Semanal” abridging his books for the public.
	April 18^th he publishes: “La farsa llamada escepticismo”. (The Farce known as Scepticism).
	June 20^th: “Indigenismo contra Derecho Humanos” (Indigenous Rights versus Human Rights”).
	November 28^th: “¿Que hacer ante la modernidad?” (How to deal with Modernity?).
1994		January 1^st sees the beginning of the neo-zapatistas armed uprising of the indigenous people of Chiapas, Mexico.
		March 23^rd Luis Donaldo Colosio, the Mexican presidential candidate, is assassinated in Lomas Taurinas, Tijuana.
	May 15^thPorfirio publishes in “Jornada Semanal” his article: “El bien y las Ciencias Sociales” (Well-being and Social Sciences).
	July 13^th close to their house in Temamatla his wife María Adela Oliveros Maqueo creates the Fundación Roberto Oliveros Rivas A.C. (in homage to her father Dr. Roberto Oliveros Rivas) known as RORAC with herself as president. This is a center for the education of the workers and for the philosophical investigation of Porfirio’s work. On this day the deeds of the land are signed as well as RORAC related documents, and a toast was made to the future and a delicious meal was enjoyed.
	November 27^th Porfirio publishes his article: “La estetificación de los intelectuales mexicanos” (The Aestetification of the Mexican Intellectuals).
		December 1^st Ernest Zedillo Ponce de León becomes president of Mexico.
1995	José Porfirio Miranda de la Parra is awarded the title of “Distinguished Professor” at UAM, Iztapalapa.
	In March in UAM, Azcapotzalco, they reprint Porfiro’s book: “Apelo a la Razón”.
	June 10^th at the Foundation RORAC, under Porfirio Miranda’s supervision, a philosophic seminar of investigation takes place on his books published up until now.
	This is not a school or a place to cultivate disciples. Like all true teachers Porfirio does not want disciples because he repudiates all authority that is not Reason itself.
1996	The publishing house Sigueme, in Salamanca, Spain, launches Porfirio’s new book: “Racionalidad y Democracia” (Rationality and Democracy). It is considered a synthesis of all his works. A true text of social philosophy. In this text he demonstrates that materialism and scepticism are the principle enemies of democracy. He also criticizes the idea of justice taught by John Rawls, showing that only a Christian concept of justice can help us resolve the problems of today’s world. And finally, he makes the balance of the theory of science up until today.
		In Cincinnati, Thomas Kuhn, historian and science philosopher whose work has significantly influenced contemporary social sciences, dies.
	In July, Porfirio and his wife María Adela enjoy some well-deserved vacations traveling through Europe. They visit places that are key for them: on the lower Rhine they spend a few days in Strasburg, then on to Metz and Luxembourg and a few more days are spent in Bruges, Belgium and finally on to Rotterdam and Amsterdam in Holland.
	December 31^st his sister-in-law, the wife of María Adela Olveros’s brother, dies.
1997	Friday March 7^that 7pm in the Templo de San Jeronimo at the Universidad del Claustro de Sor Juana, his friends and FAT (Authentic Workers Front) organize a HOMAGE to José Porfirio Miranda de la Parra utilizing the presentation of his book “Racionalidad y Democracia” as the excuse. The event brings together more people than can fit in the precinct. Loudspeakers allow them to participate from the patios of the convent.
	Of those invited the following stand out: the rector from UAM Iztapalapa, Dr. Gázques Mateos, the director of CRT, Dr. Luis del Valle, the Dominican and defender of Human Rights, Dr. Miguel Concha, the coordinator of FAT, Alfredo Domínguez, the researcher for Porfirio’s work, Professor Luis Brito Crabtree, the psychologist, Yolanda del Valle, his dear friend and co-founder of UAM, Dr. Nora Garro, his friend and journalist, Enrique Maza. This homage is one of the “highlights” of the life of this great Mexican, social fighter, Christian exegete and science philosopher.
	Porfirio considers this a memorable day in Mexican history.	El 6 de junio, el PRI, por primera vez pierde la mayoría absoluta en la Cámara de Diputados.
1998		Pinochet is arrested in London accused of being responsible for the genocide carried out under his dictatorship.
	Porfirio presents a report to the Instituto Nacional de Investigadores (National Institute of Investigation) where he contends that his three most important books, published by Sigueme, in Salamanca, Spain, are: “Apelo a la Razón”, “Revolución de la Razón”, “Racionalidad y Democracia”.
	During this year “Racionalidad y Democracia” is translated it into English with the help of Laura Gorham. Porfirio is very interested in the English-speaking public.
	This year, as well, he investigates the latest on empiric anthropology.
1999	January 15^th Porfirio’s youngest brother, Moisés Francisco, dies. He feels this deeply.
	In July UAM Iztapalapa publishes José Porfirio Miranda’s last book. This can be considered his finest work. Entitled “Anthropología e indigenismo” (Anthropology and Indigenism) it is a basis for Sociology and Theology. A new perspective for the 20^th century.
2000	During this year Miranda devotes himself to publishing some articles in the magazine “Proceso” criticizing the famous “lay education” which had inadequately formed generations of Mexicans who are more and more materialistic, hedonistic and atheist and have become intolerant when confronting the adversities of real life.
	April 9^th he publishes: “Laicismo y ateismo” (Laicism and Atheism).
	April 30^th: “Intolerancia laica” (Laic Intolerance).
	Julio 23^rd: “Laicismo: intolerancia por definición” (Laicism: Intolerance by definition).
	August 20^th: “La lógica y el aborto” (Logic and Abortion).
	In the same magazine some people answered him in the letters to the editor. Some of them deserve a reply from Porfirio.
	From July 2^nd to December 1^st Porfirio feels very content about the triumph of Vicente Fox Quesada becoming the first president of Mexico from the PAN (National Action Party). He perceives that democracy has begun in Mexico.
	September 9^th Miranda regrets the death of a politician he has always respected, Castillo Peraza.
	PART V The Final Phase (2001-2003)
2001	On the first day of the year Porfirio thanks God for the strength to begin the 21^st century, which he sees as more positive than the previous century.
	Sin embargo, en agosto la salud de Porfirio se quebranta.
	But, in August, his health deteriorates. On September 7^th he goes into the “Medica Sur” Hospital unable to breathe.
	He is diagnosed with lung cancer in its terminal stage by the doctors.	Tuesday, September 11^th, when the terrorists destroy the twin towers.
	His wife takes him to Temamatla to make his last days as comfortable as possible.
	On September 26^th he is still able to comment in his “Occurencias”: we are entering a sad and dispiriting time again.
	Finally, 35 minutes after mid-night on Tuesday October 9^that 77 years of age, he passes away, his faithful wife at his side. He dies saying what is now on his gravestone as an epitaph: *EXPECTAT RESURRECTIONEM MORTUORUM* (“Here I await the resurrection of the dead”.)
	Many people attend his wake at the RORAC foundation.
	The next day his funeral takes place in the small 18^th century Baroque church in the center of Temamatla.
	His friends from Chihuahua, his students from UAM, his brothers and sisters, relatives and acquaintances accompany his coffin to the Temamatla cemetery.
2002	In the month of October on the first anniversary of his death, a three day study and report of Porfirio’s work at UAM Iztapalapa, is a homage to him. On that occasion an agreement between UAM and RORAC is signed; the purpose being to protect his library and his published and unpublished works as well as to popularize and continue his research.
	At RORAC there is enough space for study and reflection. There are, as well, lodgings and facilities for researchers and for those that wish to give courses or seminars.
2003	The whole community attends the Sunday inauguration of CEF-Miranda (Center for Philosophical Studies – J. P. Miranda

And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.
Dan 12,3.

Chronology

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