People of San Miguel: Father Fernando Manríquez: An Eye is not simply an Eye

By Natalie Taylor

There are those who settle into a community, carry out the duties of their profession, and spend their lives fulfilling the responsibilities entrusted to them. Others, however, are not content to remain within the boundaries of their calling. A passion drives them beyond those limits. Father Fernando Manríquez is a priest, charged with leading a congregation, but he stepped outside his vocation, tapping into other interests present since childhood. I asked him if I could interview him outside his religious role. Would it be possible to speak to Fernando Manriquez—the man—and his role in promoting art and architecture in Atotonilco?  His answer was yes.

Fernando Manríquez was born in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, to a family of ten children. His father managed ranches and owned a furniture store, and his mother was a secretary. Fernando received his elementary education from private tutors before attending high school in Pátzcuaro. Ever since childhood he loved drawing, especially architectural drawings of churches, altars, and courtyards.

He considered studying architecture but ultimately decided on the priesthood and entered a seminary in México City. In 1973 he went to study in Rome, which not only advanced his religious studies but also gave him the opportunity to see some of the world's magnificent ancient architecture and works of art. His time there made a powerful impression on him. In 1977 he was ordained and assigned to Celaya, later becoming parish priest of San Miguel de Allende. An opportunity came in 1995 to become pastor of either the parish of Celaya or Atotonilco. He chose the latter and still remembers the comment of the bishop regarding his choice: “Why would you want to go that God-forsaken ranch?” Father Fernando knew why, for he already had a vision.

The Sanctuary of Atotonilco was created by Father Luis Felipe Neri de Alfaro as a religious retreat in the eighteenth century. The name Atotonilco is the Náhuatl word for “place of hot water,” because of many natural thermal springs, which the Indigenous people used for ritual cleansing and ceremonies. While the exterior looks like a white fortress, the interior is a masterpiece of novo-Hispanic Baroque art where artist Miguel Antonio Martínez de Pocasangre covered the interior with intricate murals, oil paintings, and inscriptions. Father Fernando knew the historical and artistic value of these beautiful murals which he believes represent the most important religious artwork of Latin America. He was also aware of their terrible state of decay when he became the parish priest in 1995. The Sanctuary was also a major historical site where Miguel Hidalgo and Ignacio Allende stopped on September 16, 1810, while leading the insurgent army from Dolores to San Miguel. After the War of Independence, the sanctuary was pillaged, and many its fine works of art were either removed or badly damaged. Aside from this human destruction, time had left the structure in a state of near ruin.

Father Fernando teamed up with Amigos de San Miguel, an organization engaged in the preservation and restoration of buildings and artwork since the 1930s. Together they began the restoration of the church’s interior. The work continued for three decades, restoring much of the murals’ former glory and helping the Sanctuary become part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site along with San Miguel de Allende in 2008. Even today, the restoration team continues its painstaking work, attending to the finest details of the paintings that cover the walls and ceiling of the sanctuary. The beauty and magnitude of its artistic treasures have earned the Sanctuary of Atotonilco the title the “Sistine Chapel of Latin America.”

Father Fernando retired in 2025 and now lives in San Miguel de Allende. He continues to be involved with the Sanctuary and still keeps his journal, where he fills almost every margin with architectural sketches—a quiet reminder of his lifelong love of art and architecture. Asked to summarize his vision, he quoted poet Antonio Machado: “The eye you see is not an eye because you see it; it is an eye because it sees you.” A fitting tribute to a man dedicated to serving others, suggesting that an eye is not simply the object of your vision; it is itself a center of vision—a reciprocity between observer and observed.

Father Fernando Manríquez was never merely an observer of the community; he is someone who is continually challenged, shaped, and transformed by the people among whom he lives. His legacy is in giving future generations the ability to see the Sanctuary of Atotonilco with new eyes.

Natalie Taylor is a bilingual published writer, editor, journalist, translator and a regular columnist at Atención News

www.natalietaylor.org