Pope Francis recognized the martyrdom of the Servants of God Rutilio Grande García, a Jesuit priest, and his two lay companions, who were killed in hatred of the faith in El Salvador on March 12, 1977.
Murdered before the start of the Salvadoran civil war, Father Grande, a close friend of fellow Salvadoran and martyr Saint Oscar Romero, became an icon for human rights in rural Latin America.
A significant change occurred when he specialized in pastoral theology at Lumen Vitae, Brussels (1963-1964).
Known for his vigorous defence of the poor, the Jesuit priest, an older man and a teenager were shot by a right-wing death squad as they travelled in a car outside the village where he was born.
The horror that the assassination of Fr Grande generated led Archbishop Oscar Romero of San Salvador to take up the Jesuit’s mantle as a defender of the poor. Three years later, Romero would succumb to the assassins’ bullets for his outspoken criticism of the military and work on behalf of El Salvador’s oppressed. (from Vatican website)
The beatification date will be on January 22 2022.
