San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico

The Institute for Intercultural Study and Research (INESIN) is an organization which was formed by Mexican Protestant and Catholic Christians. It is the result of the concern of men and women committed to the people of Chiapas, men like Bishop Samuel Ruiz, who began with a concern and work with Guatemalan refugees in southern Mexico during the 1980s. INESIN was originally the Ecumenical School for Pastoral Training which was developed in response to the indigenous uprising of the Mexican Zapatistas and the political and religious confrontation in the highlands of the Chiapas in the 1990s. During restructuring in 2002, the Ecumenical School for Pastoral Training was transformed into INESIN. Today, the Institute is divided into the following four departments:  the Indigenous Theology Department, Ecumenical Studies Department, Gender Studies Department, and the Social Development Department. Central to INESIN’s work is the knowledge that there cannot be peace without justice and a respect of diversity.

INESIN has been developing their property to provide an ecumenical center for gatherings and has made good progress.  Following the death of Bishop Samuel Ruiz in January 2011, the Intercultural Institute in San Cristobal de Las Casas began work on a memorial project. The director of INESIN shared their plan to build an assembly hall as part of their center. The hall will provide space for ecumenical assemblies and will provide common ground for groups to meet. This assembly hall will be dedicated to the memory of Bishop Samuel Ruiz, a fitting tribute to the man who in many ways was the spiritual founder of INESIN.