Friday, August 26, 2016

Decree of the Jubilee for the Blessed Romero Centennial


Archdiocese of San Salvador

 

DECREE CALLING FOR A JUBILEE YEAR ON OCCASION OF THE CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF BLESSED OSCAR ARNULFO ROMERO GALDAMEZ

 

 

We, Jose Luis Escobar Alas, by the grace of God and the goodness of the Holy See, Metropolitan Archbishop of the Archdiocese of San Salvador, El Salvador, in Central America.

 

WHEREAS:

 

Our diocese, created by Pope Gregory XVI in 1842, was raised by Pope Pius X to the dignity of Metropolitan Archdiocese in 1913; and since its creation, each of the nine appointed Bishops have left their deep spiritual imprint on the souls of the faithful, standing out in a very special way, the imprint made by the testimony of faith of Blessed Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero Galdamez, bishop and martyr, who freely accepted death for the salvation of the world, imitating Christ in the shedding of his blood as a supreme act of love.

 

Today, August 15, 2016, we arrived at the "Centenary of his Birth," which is an occasion to celebrate and reflect on the testimony of Christian faith and of a good shepherd of our Bishop and Martyr, since it is a great wealth and a special force that inspires us to also live up to the demands of our time according to our faith, following in the footsteps of Christ who gave his life to save us.

 

THEREFORE:

 

As we begin today the 100th year of the birth of Blessed Archbishop Oscar Romero, Bishop and Martyr; we begin our year-long celebration—from August 15, 2016 to August 15, 2017—the CENTENARY OF HIS BIRTH. This shall be a jubilee year in which we must feel called to an authentic and renewed conversion to the Lord, the only Savior of the world.

 

To start this great jubilee celebration, the Bishops of El Salvador, have gathered today August 15 at the San Salvador Cathedral, to open the celebration of this Jubilee Year of the Centenary of the birth of Monsignor Romero with a solemn Eucharist.

 

We are all invited in our parishes—priests and faithful—to strengthen the study and meditation of the life, thought and work of Archbishop Romero, to participate with greater enthusiasm in the sacramental life of our Church, especially the Sunday Eucharist that celebrates the Resurrection of the Lord, bread of eternal life and drink of salvation. We invite all to make pilgrimages to the places that are steeped in the footsteps of the Blessed: his tomb in the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Chapel of the Divine Providence Hospital and the small apartment where he lived; his hometown Ciudad Barrios. There, we can pray for the intentions of Pope Francis and the much longed-for peace in our country; we also urge the people of God to favor the Cult of our Blessed by various activities designed to pursue this purpose.

 

Thus, in use of our ordinary power conferred under and for the purposes of Canon 381 § 1 of the Code of Canon Law, “WE CALL A JUBILEE YEAR FOR THE CENTENNIAL OF THE BIRTH OF BLESSED ARCHBISHOP OSCAR ARNULFO ROMERO, Bishop and Martyr

 

Given in the Archdiocese of San Salvador, on the Solemnity of Our Lady of the Assumption, on August 15, 2016.

 

BY HIS MANDATE:

 

Msgr. Rafael Edgardo Urrutia H.

Chancellor of the Archdiocese

 

 

Msgr. Jose Luis Escobar Alas

Archbishop of San Salvador

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