BEATIFICATION OF ARCHBISHOP ROMERO,
MAY 23, 2015
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| Fr. Grande and Peasants, Aguilares. |
The two
peasants killed alongside Father Rutilio Grande will accompany him to the altars
as “companion martyrs.” Manuel Solorzano, 72 and Nelson Lemus, barely 15 years
old, were among the passengers of the Salvadoran Jesuit on March 12, 1977 when
he was ambushed by armed men in the middle of sugarcane fields, and they
riddled his Safari automobile with bullets as it traveled from Aguilares to El Paisnal, killing
all three. The other passengers escaped.
It is not
unusual for the Church to recognize the martyrdom of those who accompany a
prominent martyr like Grande, since the death of the companions would have been
motivated by the same hatred of the faith as the main martyr. For example,
during his trip to Korea in 2014, Pope Francis canonized Paul Yunji Chung and
123 companions. The martyrs of the Spanish Civil War have also been beatified
and canonized in groups. It is customary to do so when multiple victims are
killed in the same attack or wave of repression.
In the case of
the El Paisnal martyrs, it is fitting to do so since the three were members of
the pastoral team of the Jesus of Mercy Parish in Aguilares (the church of
Father Grande). The old man, Manuel, was the guardian of the church, while the
boy, Nelson, was the bell ringer. Father Grande was heading to El Paisnal to
continue the St. Joseph Novena, defying threats he had received because of his closeness
to the peasants. Grande asked his guardian to come along to keep him company
and they picked up Nelson along the way.
Manuel
Solorzano was born in 1905. He was a faithful collaborator of Father Grande,
one of the most active members of the parish. His faithfulness shone forth in
the last moments of his life, as he tried to cover Father Grande and Nelson
during the hail of bullets, absorbing ten bullet impacts over his body. “The bullets had torn off his arm.”
Nelson Rutilio
Lemus was born in 1961—he was not yet 16. He was in seventh grade. His family
had been threatened because of their participation in the Delegates of the Word
movement in the parish. Nelson offered to help with the ringing of the church
bells and he helped out in the monastery and temple. “Nelson also carried his own cross from childhood, he was epileptic.”
“Rutilio Grande
and his companions, Nelson R. Lemus and Manuel Solorzano are a symbol of hope
for the people of El Salvador”, writes Father Rodolfo Cardenal in his biography
(Historia de una esperanza: Vida de
Rutilio Grande, 1985). “They
represent a life force that cannot be killed or contained. The power of life
that exceeds beyond all limits.”
At Mass over
the three bodies in El Paisnal, Archbishop Romero preached that, “True love is what moved Father Rutilio
Grande as he died with the two campesinos at his side. That is how the Church loves,” the
Martyr-Bishop said. “She dies with them,
and with them she presents herself to heaven’s transcendence.” And now she presents
the three from the altars.
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