El Salvador Archives

In choosing the poor, St. Romero followed church teaching, not ideology

Mar 22, 2020

The year 1980 was a bloody one for tiny El Salvador. In the early months of that year, Archbishop Oscar Romero of San Salvador, who had seen and heard of the disappearances and killings of civilians, was doing everything possible to avert a full-fledged war.

By Rhina Guidos

Forty years after St. Romero’s martyrdom, El Salvador sees a harvest of martyrs

Mar 21, 2020

As the Catholic Church in El Salvador declared a jubilee year for its martyrs, whispers were already circulating, hinting at the possibility that the country would receive news from Rome of several new beatified Salvadorans this year.

By Rhina Guidos

Forty years after his martyrdom, St. Romero influences U.S. church

Mar 19, 2020

n life, El Salvador’s St. Oscar Romero had an open line of communication with the church in the United States, whose leaders and laity often supported the archbishop of San Salvador when he objected to military aid or training of the country’s government troops, paid for by U.S. taxpayer money.

By Rhina Guidos

El Salvador marks 43rd anniversary of Jesuit’s martyrdom as beatification looms

Mar 12, 2020

Even as the government of El Salvador announced a nationwide quarantine, hundreds flocked to a pilgrimage site March 12 to remember a Jesuit priest and his companions killed 43 years ago and declared martyrs by Pope Francis in February.

By Rhina Guidos

Once an unlikely candidate for the priesthood, Salvadoran bishop dies at 89

Feb 28, 2020

Retired Bishop Eduardo Alas Alfaro, a Salvadoran prelate and contemporary of Archbishop Oscar Romero, who makes several appearances in the published diary of the Salvadoran saint, died in his native Chalatenango Feb. 27, the 32nd anniversary of his ordination as bishop. He was 89.

By Rhina Guidos

Pope clears way for beatification of Salvadoran Jesuit, companions

Feb 22, 2020

The Vatican announced Feb. 22 that Pope Francis has recognized the martyrdom of a fellow Jesuit, Salvadoran Father Rutilio Grande, and two companions who were murdered en route to a novena in 1977 in El Salvador.

By Rhina Guidos