By Carlos Mendoza Álvarez
Hospitality and commensality are two vital attitudes that, over the years, I have cultivated with the Dominicans since my first encounter in 1979 with Daniel Ulloa and Raúl Vera, then formators of postulants and novices respectively, on the path of initiation to charism of preaching, which has been in dialogue with diverse cultures for eight centuries, with the chiaroscuro of every century-old institution, its shadows and its great lights.
Even during my childhood in Puebla, both virtues were present in the life of the family, around the figure of my maternal grandmother, my great-aunt, my mother and aunts, along with the uncles who made each family meeting a true celebration of flavors and dances.
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Daniel Ulloa Herrero passed away a few days ago in Cuernavaca, and today the ashes of his mortal body will be deposited in the Columbarium of the Temple of Santa María de la Anunciación, known as the University Parish, next to the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Copilco, which was founded by the Dominicans in 1963, with the spirit of the ongoing conciliar renewal, to cultivate dialogue with intellectuals, students, athletes and workers of the country's top university.
Friar Daniel received priestly ordination there, along with Friar Miguel Concha and Friar Antonio Ramos, on July 25, 1970, from Bishop Don Sergio Méndez Arceo, who was a council father and an eminent witness of the liberating Latin American Church, against the current of the prominent groups of the Catholic hierarchy and conservative lay people of the time.
The CUC - as the University Cultural Center Founded by the Dominicans, the university was famous in its golden age for its University Mass and its Film Club, which showcased the latest art films by unknown and even banned directors such as Pasolini, Tarkovsky, Kurosawa, Fellini, and Buñuel. The presence of the Dominicans in every faculty of the UNAM—whether as professors, students, or guest lecturers—extended beyond the university campus, fostering dialogue between faith and reason with students and professors alike.
In that impetus, Daniel Ulloa, Raúl Vera, and Miguel Concha were trained as preaching friars by figures of the stature of Friar Alberto Escurdia, professor at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters; Friar Agustín Desobry, who arrived from France with a great project for a cultural center as a space to promote dialogue with university students; Friar Jaime Gurza, an exquisite and cultured man, knowledgeable about the mystical and aesthetic tradition of the medieval and modern Dominicans; and Friar Julián Pablo Fernández, filmmaker and painter, friend of Don Luis Buñuel, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Juan Rulfo, Octavio Paz, Guillermina Bravo, and so many other creators of Mexican culture of the time.
Daniel Ulloa stood out for his brilliant intelligence, which he would later cultivate as a historian, graduating from El Colegio de México with a thesis on the conflicting currents of the Dominicans upon their arrival in Tierra Firme in 1526: on the one hand, Friar Domingo de Betanzos, with a rigorous reformist spirit in convent life and doctrine, as part of the evangelization and colonization undertaken by the Spanish Crown; on the other hand, Friar Bartolomé de Las Casas, with a bold emphasis in his criticism of the ongoing coloniality, confronting the Encomienda system through the promotion of the Laws of the Indies and a method of peaceful evangelization that he had already tested for years on the coast of Venezuela and later in Verapaz in Guatemala.
Daniel Ulloa's vibrant personality was marked by a creative sense of humor and exquisite irony that allowed him to connect immediately with young people, both in universities and in working-class neighborhoods. A notable chapter in his history as a young priest was the rock Mass that, along with a band of young people from the alleyway of Leandro Valle, a neighbor of La Lagunilla and Tepito, the "tough" neighborhoods of Mexico City's Historic Center, he enlivened on Sunday nights at the Santo Domingo church.
Later, both of these intense experiences—his intellectual life as a historian and his pastoral accompaniment of young people from diverse urban cultures—allowed Daniel, as prior of the CUC, to propose a renewed vision of university ministry in the 1980s that emphasized the intellectual life and pastoral accompaniment of university students with their multiple identities. During his years as prior, for example, he welcomed Brothers Roberto and Benjamín Cuéllar, from the Christian Legal Aid organization founded by Archbishop Romero, who became our mentors in human rights work. This experience paved the way for the creation of the Fray Francisco de Vitoria OP Human Rights Center, the oldest civil society organization in Mexico among those that now comprise the network. All rights for all.
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The General Chapter of the Order of Preachers, held in Mexico in 1992, where I had the blessing of serving as Secretary General, elected Friar Timothy Radcliffe as Master of the Order. In his first month in office, he convened a remarkable group of friars as his close collaborators: Jean-Jacques Perennès of the Province of France as Assistant for the Apostolic Life, Guido Vergauwen of the Province of Flanders as Assistant for the Intellectual Life, and Daniel Ulloa of the Province of Mexico as Secretary of the Order. Together with other friars of this vigorous caliber—as enlightened preachers with a profound sense of thought and spirituality dedicated to justice, peace, and beauty—Friar Timothy encouraged the entire Dominican family for nine years to reclaim the prophetic spirit of “holy preaching.” This was the name of the work started by Dominic of Guzman, Bishop Diego de Osma, the sisters of Prulla and the layman Peter Ceila in Languedoc, in turbulent times of return to the radicalism of the gospel, which was shared by the mendicant movements of the time.
Years later, Friar Daniel emigrated to the United States to continue his university ministry, first in New York, then in Brooklyn, and later in New Jersey. We Dominicans of Mexico owe him a debt of gratitude: to reclaim his legacy and renew the charism of preaching in these new theological spaces where God encounters wounded humanity seeking life, dignity, beauty, justice, and peace around the common table of divine compassion.
More recently, on December 7, 2024, when Friar Timothy received the cardinalate from Pope Francis, many of his companions from that time gathered in Rome to celebrate this momentous occasion. In a video recorded on that day, Friar Daniel recalled that the main purpose of the gathering was to reaffirm the urgent need for the charism of preaching to proclaim the Good News amidst the turbulent times humanity is experiencing.
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To honor the legacy of that generation of preaching friars who have marked my life as a person, as a Christian, and as a Dominican, my theological work and pastoral service of several decades has sought to listen to each community and culture where I have lived: Mexico City with its disparate and diverse neighborhoods; university students in Fribourg, Switzerland, Paraná in Brazil, Paris, Mexico City, New York, Rio de Janeiro, and Boston; as well as the indigenous peoples of Oaxaca and Chiapas, from decades ago to the present day, to the Lakota and Mapuche peoples at the extreme North and South of the continent.
Inspired by this Dominican spirit, at the confluence of faith and reason, I now participate in the development of this initiative JobeLab In San Cristóbal de Las Casas, along with friends from this city. I'll tell you more soon about this exciting network of friendship, hospitality, and budding culinary experiences.
In the coming days, we will be holding two events here in Jobel: on Wednesday, March 25th at 5:50 pm at Belil Restaurant, a presentation about the San Cristóbal School as a breeding ground for critical thinking that emerged in Chiapas in the second half of the 20th century, with the participation of Pablo Romo, Martha Elena Welsh, and Juan Carlos L. Puente. And on Friday, March 27th, at 5 pm at the Charity Temple, we will host the event “Music for Interreligious Encounter,” together with Shaykh Yahya Rhodus and Shaykh Mudar Abdulghani from the city's Muslim community, focusing on the Sufi music and chants of Nader Khan, a Canadian believer and artist, as expressions of encountering the sacred in times of extreme violence.
We look forward to welcoming you for an experience of hospitality and dining.
Jobel, March 21, 2026
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