Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Salvador
Encyclopedia
The Archdiocese of San Salvador is the chief ecclesiastical division of El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...

, serving the Salvadoran capital, San Salvador
San Salvador
The city of San Salvador the capital and largest city of El Salvador, which has been designated a Gamma World City. Its complete name is La Ciudad de Gran San Salvador...

, and surrounding region. The current archbishop of San Salvador is Msgr. José Luis Escobar Alas
José Luis Escobar Alas
José Luis Escobar Alas is the eleventh Bishop and seventh Archbishop of San Salvador, El Salvador. He succeeds Archbishop Emeritus Fernando Sáenz Lacalle in that position, and holds the post once held by Archbishop Óscar Romero, who was assassinated in 1980.When Archbishop Escobar was appointed...

. His cathedra
Cathedra
A cathedra or bishop's throne is the chair or throne of a bishop. It is a symbol of the bishop's teaching authority in the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, and has in some sense remained such in the Anglican Communion and in Lutheran churches...

 is located in the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Holy Savior (Catedral Metropolitana de San Salvador)
Catedral Metropolitana de San Salvador
The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Holy Savior is the principal church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Salvador and the seat of the Archbishop of San Salvador...

.

History

What is currently the territory of the Republic of El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...

 previously belonged to the General Captaincy of Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...

 and, ecclesiastically, to the Archdiocese of Guatemala. Until 1842, there were four church regions in El Salvador, which reported to the San Salvador region, the most important one. These were: Santa Ana, Sonsonate, San Vicente and San Miguel.

Pope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI
Pope Gregory XVI , born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari, named Mauro as a member of the religious order of the Camaldolese, was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1831 to 1846...

 erected the Diocese of the Divine Savior (in Spanish, El Salvador means "The Savior"), separating the territory of the Republic of El Salvador from the Archdiocese of Guatemala, by Bull dated September 28, 1842, constituting it as a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Guatemala.

Twentieth century

Under three archbishops, Luis Chávez y González
Luis Chávez y González
Luis Chávez y González was the seventh Bishop and third Archbishop of San Salvador, El Salvador, and immediate predecessor of Archbishop Óscar Romero. Unlike Romero, who served for three years before being assassinated in 1980, Msgr. Chávez had an archbishopric that was long and low key...

, Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez
Óscar Romero
Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez was a bishop of the Catholic Church in El Salvador. He became the fourth Archbishop of San Salvador, succeeding Luis Chávez. He was assassinated on 24 March 1980....

, and Arturo Rivera y Damas
Arturo Rivera y Damas
Arturo Rivera y Damas was the ninth Bishop and fifth Archbishop of San Salvador, El Salvador. Msgr. Rivera's term as archbishop coincided with the Salvadoran Civil War. He was the immediate successor of Archbishop Óscar Romero. During Romero's archbishopric , Rivera was Romero's key ally...

 (see picture), the archdiocese saw over fifty years of a progressive pastoral ministry influenced by the currents of the Second Vatican Council
Second Vatican Council
The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...

 and a Latin American church trend that later was known as Liberation Theology
Liberation theology
Liberation theology is a Christian movement in political theology which interprets the teachings of Jesus Christ in terms of a liberation from unjust economic, political, or social conditions...

. Critics interpreted the Church's advocacy for the poor as fomenting a socialist revolution and targeted the clergy for assassination. Two bishops, including Archbishop Romero, were assassinated, as were twenty six priests (including Fr. Rutilio Grande
Rutilio Grande
Rutilio Grande García was a Jesuit priest in El Salvador and a promoter of liberation theology. He was assassinated in 1977, along with two other Salvadorans. He was a close friend of Archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero...

, pictured), three nuns, and countless catechists and Church workers.

The post-Civil War period saw a return to traditional spirituality under the watch of the conservative Archbishop Fernando Sáenz Lacalle
Fernando Sáenz Lacalle
-External links:*...

, a former military chaplain, and member of Opus Dei
Opus Dei
Opus Dei, formally known as The Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei , is an organization of the Catholic Church that teaches that everyone is called to holiness and that ordinary life is a path to sanctity. The majority of its membership are lay people, with secular priests under the...

.

Organization

The auxiliary bishop
Auxiliary bishop
An auxiliary bishop, in the Roman Catholic Church, is an additional bishop assigned to a diocese because the diocesan bishop is unable to perform his functions, the diocese is so extensive that it requires more than one bishop to administer, or the diocese is attached to a royal or imperial office...

 of San Salvador is Msgr. Gregorio Rosa Chávez
Gregorio Rosa Chávez
Msgr. Gregorio Rosa Chávez is the auxiliary bishop of San Salvador, El Salvador.-Notes:...

. The vicars general are Msgr. Gregorio Rosa Chávez and Msgr. Jesús Delgado Acevedo. The archdiocesan chancellor
Chancellor (ecclesiastical)
Two quite distinct officials of some Christian churches have the title Chancellor.*In some churches, the Chancellor of a diocese is a lawyer who represents the church in legal matters....

 is Msgr. Rogelio Esquivel. Four other clerics also hold leading posts in the archdiocese. They are Msgr. Rafael Edgardo Urrutia Herrera, Msgr. Richard Antall, Msgr. Fernando Arturo Rodríguez, and Fr. Joaquín Alonso Álvarez.

The San Salvador Archdiocese covers three provinces or departments of El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...

: San Salvador
San Salvador
The city of San Salvador the capital and largest city of El Salvador, which has been designated a Gamma World City. Its complete name is La Ciudad de Gran San Salvador...

, La Libertad, and Cuscatlán
Cuscatlán Department
Cuscatlán is a department of El Salvador, located in the center of the country. With a surface area of , it is El Salvador's smallest department. It is inhabited by over 200,000 people. Cuscatlán or Cuzcatlán was the name the original inhabitants of the Western part of the country gave to most of...

. The archdiocese is organized into fifteen vicariates or diocesan districts. Eleven of the vicariates cover San Salvador, and have the names of saints, as well as the archbishops Belloso, Chávez, Romero and Rivera, and Father Rutilio Grande.

Ordinaries

The following is a list of the Roman Catholic Bishops and Archbishops of the Diocese and Archdiocese of San Salvador (and their terms of service).

Bishops

  • Msgr. Dr. Jorge de Viteri y Ungo (1843–1848)
  • Msgr. Tomas Miguel Pineda y Zaldaña (1848–1871)
  • Msgr. Luis Cárcamo y Rodríguez (1871–1885)
  • Miguel Vecchiotti (1885–1888)
  • Msgr. Dr. Antonio Adolfo Pérez y Aguilar (1888–1913)

Archbishops

  • Msgr. Dr. Antonio Adolfo Pérez y Aguilar
    Antonio Adolfo Pérez y Aguilar
    Msgr. Dr. Antonio Adolfo Pérez y Aguilar was the fifth Bishop and first Archbishop of San Salvador, El Salvador.-External links:*...

     (1913–1926)
  • Msgr. Dr. José Alfonso Belloso y Sánchez
    José Alfonso Belloso y Sánchez
    Msgr. Dr. José Alfonso Belloso y Sánchez was the sixth Bishop and second Archbishop of San Salvador, El Salvador.-External links:*...

     (1927–1938)
  • Msgr. Luis Chávez y González
    Luis Chávez y González
    Luis Chávez y González was the seventh Bishop and third Archbishop of San Salvador, El Salvador, and immediate predecessor of Archbishop Óscar Romero. Unlike Romero, who served for three years before being assassinated in 1980, Msgr. Chávez had an archbishopric that was long and low key...

     (1938–1977)
  • Msgr. Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez
    Óscar Romero
    Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez was a bishop of the Catholic Church in El Salvador. He became the fourth Archbishop of San Salvador, succeeding Luis Chávez. He was assassinated on 24 March 1980....

     (1977–1980)
  • Msgr. Arturo Rivera y Damas
    Arturo Rivera y Damas
    Arturo Rivera y Damas was the ninth Bishop and fifth Archbishop of San Salvador, El Salvador. Msgr. Rivera's term as archbishop coincided with the Salvadoran Civil War. He was the immediate successor of Archbishop Óscar Romero. During Romero's archbishopric , Rivera was Romero's key ally...

     (1983–1994)
  • Msgr. Fernando Sáenz Lacalle
    Fernando Sáenz Lacalle
    -External links:*...

     (1995–2008)
  • Msgr. José Luis Escobar Alas
    José Luis Escobar Alas
    José Luis Escobar Alas is the eleventh Bishop and seventh Archbishop of San Salvador, El Salvador. He succeeds Archbishop Emeritus Fernando Sáenz Lacalle in that position, and holds the post once held by Archbishop Óscar Romero, who was assassinated in 1980.When Archbishop Escobar was appointed...

    (2008–present)
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