Louis Joachim Munoz

Munoz was born in Zamora, Spain. He studied law at the University of Granada where in his first year he became a member of Opus Dei. He graduated in 1958 with an LL.M degree. Afterwards Munoz worked for some years as a journalist in the Granada newspaper Patria.

He was ordained a Priest of the Personal Prelature of Opus Dei in Madrid, Spain on 9 August 1959. In September of the same year, he went to the United States and was a chaplain of Tremont House (Boston) where he resided until St. Josemaria asked him to go to Nigeria and help build Opus Dei which had its beginnings there in 1965.

Prof. Munoz's Inaugural Lecture at the University of Ibadan entitled "For the Sake of Tradition" was a master exposition of what humans and the human societies are, or as Jean Guitton states profoundly 'Become what you are'. In holding brief for tradition, Munoz takes a stand concerning what he believes to be the fundamental problem of mankind, namely, the problem of development. Because development in its various connotations is of such importance to the problems of the Third World, Monoz demonstrates the close links between development and tradition. To him, once tradition is understood as a dynamic factor and not simply as a duration, bound in time, the past is brought into focus in the understanding of development; as men and societies of men not only change but last. He sees a paradigm according to which the progress of mankind is understood solely in terms of modernity, where the past, namely tradition, is replaced by the present. In particular, he inveighs against the secularizatiom of the vision of the world that leaves out its pivotal significance of the transcendental dimension of human existence. He agrees with St. Josemaria that "if we keep the sense of eternity, we do not lose sight that today or now are temporal adverbs and chronological criteria not necessarily of validity". Munoz finds that the social sciences, including political science, have been particularly affected by the paradigm of modernity which has exerted such a destructive influence in the Western thought and has impaired the understanding of society and of political events. This decline, he believes, has been caused by the predominance of commitment to the Cartesian paradigm which refuses to accept the existential nature of human cognition. He therefore warns that unless we regain an appreciation of ourselves as persons, unless we appreciate in its fullness the historical and personal form of the being of man, we will pay the price namely, the elimination of an entire realm of questions and the denial of the truth of existence. For Munoz tradition implies a value judgement about the element being handed on. In this sense, what is really tradition is not the institution in itself but the belief in its value, the outcome of which Munoz has referred to as traditionality. To demonstrate that his stand on tradition has immediate practical relevance in the Nigerian society he asks: 'What would be the outcome if, for instance, our national rural development programmes, our economic and educational planning, our population policies, our handling the issues of our religious and ethnic pluralism, our creation of states, our constitution making, all took tradition into consideration'. He thus stresses that bringing tradition in will free humans from the grip of the paradigm of modernity and help them to see themselves as they really are'.

He lived in Ibadan, Nigeria for 47 years. He became a Nigerian citizen by naturalization on November 17, 2006.

• LL.M., University of Granada (Spain), 1958
• Ph.D. (Summa cum Laude) of Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, (Rome), 1957
• Ph.D. (Summa cum Laude) Political Science, Complutense University of Madrid,1977

Fr Munoz was asked by St Josemaría Escrivá, Founder of Opus Dei, to join a handful of others to start the apostolic work of Opus Dei in Nigeria He arrived in Nigeria on August 22, 1966 and would spend the rest of his life there.

Munoz’s sojourn in Ibadan can best be described in the words of Gilson (.....): "A true scholar is essentially a man whose intellectual life is part of his moral life; in other words, a man who has decided once and for all, to apply the demands of his moral conscience to his intellectual life". He lived this dictum to the full and always ensured that his scholarship spoke with the language of the virtues, and vice versa. As Professor Munoz was still trying to grapple with his new home, an incident sealed his fate as a welcomed guest: he had gone to celebrate Holy Mass some five kilometres from his house and on his walk home he met two children. With the grin on their faces extending from ear to ear, these kids chorused the traditional Yoruba greeting of ekabo (welcome). This little expression of warmth not only made certain that he would stay in Ibadan but precipitated a deep love for his new home; a love that led Prof Munoz to be a leading scholar in Yoruba civilization in the Americas. Little things, little things, he paid great attention to little things and saw in them immense strengths of character, of knowledge, of virtue.

Munoz started teaching in the University of Ibadan in 1967 and was appointed as a Professor of Political Science and French Studies in the department of European Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Ibadan on 1 October 1980 working under Prof. Henry Evans. The main field of his research, the process of tradition, has provided him with a synthesis and a comparative focus, which has enabled him to write widely on political philosophy and on African and European history.

He retired in October 1998 but was on contract from 1999 to 2002, and thereafter until he died he taught and supervised graduate students in the department, gratis.

• The Past in the Present: Towards a Rehabilitation of Tradition (Spectrum, Ibadan: 2007): In other words, neither past nor future are inherently fantastic in themselves independently of their content. Obviously some traditions are bound to die under the pressure of modern life. To be alive means to grow and change. But how can Africans forge a distinctive response to a globalised world without losing what is most precious about their rich and proud heritage? Munoz makes a case for tradition.

• A Living Tradition: Studies in Yoruba Civilization (Bookcraft, Ibadan: 2003): Aside the theory of tradition, Prof Munoz has also been on the forefront of study of the African traditional state with special reference to the Yoruba. Munoz’s many years in Yoruba land, have sharpened his interest in the Yoruba culture and “led to the analysis in a new light of some fundamental principles of political theory”. This research gave birth to the book, A Living Tradition: Studies in Yoruba Civilization.
• Virtues: An Inquiry into Moral Virtues of our Times (Sefer, Ibadan: 1996) was Munoz’s direct intervention during the political backwash of an annulled election in Nigeria. The book was a series of seminars he gave to “university teachers, justices and others professional men, where discussions were recorded and published together in the above-mentioned book, which has already been reprinted”. Virtues comprises Munoz’s lectures on the ethics of the virtues and also a lively discussion by the participants.
• The Roots of the West: An Introduction to the European Cultural Tradition (Bookcraft, Ibadan: 2001), is unique as it highlights not only the deep Christian tradition of the Europe but also provides valuable discourse on the contribution of Africa to the building of that continent.

Journal articles

Munoz published about 35 peer reviewed journal articles, some of which are:

• "The Dual Mandate of Modern Languages" (1976)
• "[The American Paradigm of Modernization] El paradigma americano de la modernización" (1977)
• "La Ciudad Ceremonial Yoruba, Mecanismo De Tradicion" (1978)
• "The Temporal Reference of Tradition" (1979)
• "The Rationality of Tradition" (1981)
• "Regionalism in Nigeria: The Transformation of Tradition" (1987)
• "Traditional Participation in a Modern Political System — the Case of Western Nigeria" (2008)
• "My Friendship with Emeritus Professor Jacob Ade-Ajayi" was his last work: a chapter in a Festschrift in honor of his friend, Emeritus Professor J. F. Ade Ajayi. Munoz "struggled to complete his chapter and died a few days after submitting it."

Since 1967, Fr Munoz had not limited his capability to research alone. As a priest, he has been deeply involved in the spiritual and moral growth of the university community – teachers, students and other non-academic staff. He was the Parish Priest of the university chapel, Our Lady Seat of Wisdom: an assignment that he gladly received from the Catholic Archbishop of Ibadan.

As parish priest, Fr Munoz besides celebrating liturgical services and dispensing of sacrament was also involved in an extensive work of character formation through individual counselling, classes on theology and Christian ethics, etc. Fr Munoz, together with other members of Opus Dei and their friends, was instrumental in the building of Irawo University Centre, a male hall of residence for university students of the University of Ibadan. The moral and spiritual formation is entrusted to the Prelature of Opus Dei.

His students and parishioners attest to Munoz' humour, intellect and pastoral affection. According to Malachy Igwilo: "Fr. Munoz strikes me as an indefatigable Catholic intellect with enough rib-cracking jokes to boot. In my Ibadan year, (1998-2004) I was living in sin and seeking the opportunity to leave the Church. I met Fr. Munoz at Irawo University Center when I went there to seek out a Philosophy text. Munoz was narrating to a small group of students what the good life is. He said 'if you want to live the good life, you must live from the inside'. This struck me! He said later that your inside must be edified by the Church. He went on to narrate how the Church made Europe what it is. I at that moment decided that leaving the church is not the option. I immediately started to let myself be led by the Church, so that I could live from inside out. Thanks to Fr. Munoz, I am still on this path, letting the Church lead me to living from the inside!" Chioma Akanegbu also attests that: "I can't say enough about Fr. Munoz. He is a funny professor who tells us jokes during lecture. At the time I was in UI [University of Ibadan] I tried not to miss any of his lectures not just to see him with his pipe but because it held the story of the turbulence in the church during the middle ages. I learnt about Alexander the Great, Henry VIII and so much more from Fr. Munoz. One thing I always remember when he comes to mind is what he once said to me: 'You haven't done much against God but you haven't done much for him either'. That my dear people gave me hope and the zeal to do more for God...."

He was both a father and a pastor. These themes about Munoz's life were captured by Laetitia Adaudu: "If it had not been for him, we green-horned, wide-eyed, young students would have landed straight in the snare of the devil. While several predators preyed upon young university students and harvested them to the devil, he worked tirelessly to keep us from being swallowed by the wild life of the University. Professor Louis Munoz, a lecturer at the University of Ibadan, a Spanish priest was my first spiritual director and was indeed a father to many. He was so passionate about the Fatherhood of God that that was the only thing he wanted us to know about God. For over 40 years he shaped the lives of the students in the University and beyond. He loved to call himself a grandfather because he had taught generations of fathers and their children in the same University. He carried many in his arms and saw some of them in their nappies. He loved God so much and wanted to go to meet Him that he used to jokingly ask us not to pray for long life for him. He died yesterday evening before his 80th birthday this year. A gift for which we can never be fully grateful to God." Tony O'kywells concurs thus: "What is fatherhood? Is it when a man bears biological children of his? Or is it when a man provides protection and love for his children whether or not they are borne of his loins. You were a father to me and to a multitude of us. Good night father it's time to reap the rewards of your selfless labors here on earth."

An article in The Guardian of April 6, 2013, titled, Fr. Louis J. Munoz: Farewell My Friend, captures the enormous spiritual influence of Rev. Munoz on the life of one of his parishioners, Prof. Mark Nwagwu and his family.

"Fr. Louis....had been there with us all through the wedding ceremonies of all our children at the Church of Our Lady Seat of Wisdom. He was there for my Inaugural Lecture, my University Lectures, and my valedictory lecture. Above all this, he sought with every fiber of his rock-solid strength to bring us closer to Opus Dei. He never let me rest. He would visit us at 12 Kurumi Road, University of Ibadan campus, usually in the evening, around 7.30 p.m. or so. He would come in and immediately ask me to switch off the TV if it was on, which it often was and I would be furious with him wondering what audacity he had to command me in my own house. But I never ever showed him this side of my intemperate nature in my house; after all, he was my parish priest, and though I was not attending Mass and the Sacraments, still I was a Roman Catholic. He would invite me to the means of spiritual formation in Opus Dei and whenever I attended all I would do was sleep. Still he kept after me.

In 1987, I went to the Umited States on sabbatical leave and by the time I came back in 1989, my spiritual side had gained some strength and I now attended Masses regularly and sought reconciliation with my God in the Sacrament of Penance. Fr. Louis had finally won me over...Things moved faster now and more and more I sought ways to get closer to my God. Father would tell me in worried grief, 'God has such few friends'. I pondered this and soon it became the battle cry for seeking holiness, 'what are you doing with yourself; don't you know God has such few friends? Don't you know he seeks you out as a friend?' Father was ever by my side; he protected me with his solid steadfastness in prayer and never let me slip into languid indifference. He was exceedingly dear to me; as good a friend as God would give me....Fr. Louis would have offered his pains, his sores, and his weakness for truth, for goodness, for beauty, for Opus Dei, for his multitude of friends, still protecting them as weak as he was with his supplications and prayers. Fr. Louis worked assiduously and inexorably to manifest in his life what he was created to be - a child of God. Tirelessly, he sought to demonstrate through all he did that the truth about humans is based on the truth about God. One could say Fr. Louis' parting words were the very words of Blessed John Paul II when he visited Nigeria in 1982 and said Mass at the University of Ibadan for all Nigerian intellectuals: 'The future style of your society is still in your hands'. Fr. Munoz had these words emblazoned on the walls of the Chirch of Our Lady Seat of Wosdom. We all need to live a life of truth, goodness and beauty. This is the 'style' Fr. Munoz wishes for all of us".

Prof Munoz was a recipient of three national honours:

• France: Chevalier de l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques (1993)
• Spain: Cruz de Oficial de la Orden del Mérito Civil (1995)
• Nigeria: Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR) (2005)