Considered by his flock to be an apostle of God, Joaquin Flores’ body has been lying in repose in church’s huge Guadalajara temple in Colonia Hermosa Providencia, while two rows of believers, one for men, and one for women, have filed by for a final glimpse of their leader.
The lines grew steadily throughout the week, and it is estimated that church members, many of them weeping inconsolably, have had to wait at least four hours to reach the temple.
To these followers, Joaquin Flores was a visionary preacher with a direct line to God. To others, he was an opportunist who fostered a cult of personality, with himself at the center. Either way, Mexico has undoubtedly lost one of its most influential religious figures.
Joaquin Flores took over leadership of the church at the age of 27 after the death of his father, Aaron Joaquin Gonzalez, in 1964.
Under his five decade stewardship, Luz del Mundo became the richest and fastest growing Pentecostal church in the country. Church membership expanded to an estimated five million people in 37 countries, and the church established itself as a political force in the Guadalajara area.
Started by Joaquin Gonzalez in 1926, Luz de Mundo describes itself as the restoration of a primitive Christianity, believing modern Catholic society and religion to be plagued by luxurious material goods and excessive behaviors.
Men and women are separated during services, ministers must be married, there is a strong emphasis on Bible reading and the denomination’s adherents believe in the second coming of Christ. The symbol of the cross is not recognized. There is no dancing, drinking alcohol or dating. Women wear long skirts and marriages generally take place within the community.
The church is known for building unusual architecture, including a mock Taj-Mahal in Chiapas and a replica Mayan pyramid in Honduras.
Work on the luxuriant Luz del Mundo temple, the focal point of the neighborhood and an easily recognizable structure on the Guadalajara skyline, began in 1982 and finished a decade later. The housing surrounding the temple is sold or rented to church adherents at reduced prices, and congregation members comprise an overwhelming majority of the neighborhood’s population, with streets bearing names like Jordan and Nazareth.
Throughout his leadership, the Catholic Church frequently complained that Joaquin Flores sought political power and manipulated his relationship with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He was accused of securing preferential treatment in the provision of water and electricity for the Hermosa Provincia neighborhood, in exchange for encouraging church members to vote for the PRI.
A few days after the Heaven’s Gate mass suicide in San Diego, California, Mexican theologian Jorge Erdely Graham accused Luz del Mundo of having similarly destructive interests. Mexico’s Interior Ministry is known to have investigated the organization and taken no action against it.
Abuse allegations leveled at Joaquin Flores and his church also received attention in the press, although he was never charged with a crime.
According to sociologist Roberto Blancarte, Luz del Mundo “has been the subject of an ignominious persecution, fueled by the most primitive prejudices and by outright obscure interests.”
Messages of condolence for Joaquin Flores were issued by political leaders Monday, including one from Jalisco Governor Aristoteles Sandoval, who also paid his respects this week at the temple, along with Guadalajara Mayor Ramiro Hernandez.
As leader of Luz del Mundo, Joaquin Flores oversaw the construction of schools, hospitals and other social services provided by the church. In the 1990s, the church expanded from the American continent to countries such as United Kingdom, Netherlands, Switzerland, Ethiopia and Israel.
Joaquin Flores will probably be succeeded by his son Naason.