FATHER RUTILIO GRANDE

LONG JOURNEY

EARLY YEARS

• Born: July 5, 1928
• Lived in El Paisnal, El Salvador
• Born into a poor family
• Parents divorced
• Raised by parents and catholic grandmother

12 YEARS OLD

• Recognized by Archbishop Luis Chavez y Gonzalez
• Went to high school seminary in San Salvador after being invited by the bishop

17 YEARS OLD

• Finished attending high school seminary
• Entered novitiate in Caracas, Venezuela
• Were no Jesuit Novitiates in Central America

CALLING

• Originally felt a calling for countries in Asia
• Took vows poverty, chastity, and obedience to become a priest

QUITO, ECUADOR

• Traveled to Quito after two years in Caracas
• Studied human rights for three years
• Finished and left to go to El Salvador in 1950

PROFESSOR

• Spent three years in El Salvador
• Taught others at a minor seminar
• Taught sacred history, history of the Americas, history of El Salvador, and writing

ROMERO

• Met Romero studying at the Major Seminary of San José de la Montaña
• Eventually became best friends
• Romero became an archbishop

PRIESTHOOD

• Ordained as a priest in 1959
• Finished his studies in Spain during 1962

FINDING A PURPOSE

INFLUENCE

• Attended Lumen Vitae Institute in Brussels, Belgium in 1963
• Studied more modern ways to minister
• Modern ways inspired by Vatican II
• New ideas advanced Rutilio’s ideology as a priest

1965-1970

• Taught others what he had learned
• Created “pastoral immersions”
• Engaged with communities and asked what he could help them with

FALLOUT

• “Pastoral immersions” lasted for around one to two years
• Others did not agree on this ideology
• Lost power in the church

1972

• Attended the Latin American Pastoral Institute
• Learned ideology created by Paulo Freire called conscientization
• Combined conscientization, with the ideology of Vatican II, and with his own ideas learned in El Salvador
• Breakthrough for Rutilio

RUTILIO’S PURPOSE

• Created a team base journey to Aguilares, El Salvador
• Taught with scripture, but also talked about real life issues
• Land reform
• Rich and poor
• “Liturgical inclusiveness”
• Made the Catholic faith a reality for the unfortunate

LATER ON

• Continued his teachings in other areas
• Starting fighting for rural farmers in El Salvador

GOVERNMENT

• Challenged the government to respect the rights of priests
• Fought against the government to help the unfortunate succeed

KIDNAPPING

• Father Mario Bernal Londono and a parishioner were kidnapped by the guerrillas in 1977
• Father Mario was released and immediately deported by El Salvador because he was Columbian

OUTCOME

• Rutilio spoke against the government after the kidnapping
• Believed to be the reason of his death
• Assassinated by forces of El Salvador on March 12, 1977 near his birthplace

AFTER DEATH

• Archbishop Romero led the memorial mass
• Mass at Cathedral in San Salvador
• Over 100,000 people came
• Over 150 priests came

LEGACY

• Comunidad Rutilio Grande founded by 11 refugees from Nicaragua
• Fight for the poor just like Rutilio
• Radio Rutilio consists of youth speaking of news and announcements

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SOURCE

• https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutilio_Grande