![\"20150214-02\"](\"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/20150214-02.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cA preaching that does not denounce sin is not Gospel preaching,\u201d Bishop Romero stated <\/strong>in one of his talks. His martyrdom, which took place on March 24, 1980 as he celebrated the Eucharist <\/strong>in the chapel of the hospital for terminally ill patients, where he also resided, gave strength to many Salvadoran families who had lost relatives and friends during the civil war which turned ruthless after his death. Still today his witness remains a powerful call to peace, <\/strong>brotherhood and reconciliation.<\/p>\n \u201cThe news that Pope Francis had signed the decree recognising the martyrdom in odium fidei <\/em>(in hatred of the faith) <\/strong>of Bishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero caused much rejoicing among the people. Bishops had the bells rung in all the churches of El Salvador in expression of the great jubilation,\u201d Father Filippo Casabianca writes from the Focolare\u2019s Central American centre. \u201cFrom when Bergoglio became pope everyone began to hope that, knowing the urgent needs of the poor and the shady schemes of some Latin American dictatorial regimes, the progress of the Cause would be unblocked. Soon there will be the Solemn Opening of the Cause of Beatification, in El Salvador.<\/p>\n What is the backstory of that block? <\/strong>\u201cThe missionary work of the Church during that period was traversed by tensions that undulated between genuine faithfulness to the Second Vatican Council\u2019s teaching about a preferential option for the poor and being near to the least, to the temptation of some who felt that it was possible to be associated with movements that had a Marxist imprint. This is what they wanted to accuse Romero of, to the point of silencing his voice.\u201d But, in El Salvador,<\/a> the Focolare spirituality<\/a> also has its roots planted in the soil of war horrors. The first focolarinos visited this land in the late 1970s. They came from Colombia until the first Mariapolises of 1982, which were held in Santiago de Maria.<\/p>\n Going against the tide <\/strong>is still a feature of the Focolare Movement <\/a>in El Salvador because of its social involvement. The rehabilitation of prisoners, for example, within the framework of the local Church\u2019s prison ministry, involves Focolare teams. They visit the infamous Mariona Prison which houses the most dangerous criminal and drug-traffick bosses. They are currently in regular contact with some 180 people serving different sentences, who attend Word of Life<\/a> meetings in groups of 18 people. In the most recent meeting someone remarked: \u201cI ask forgiveness from my jail mates, because I treated them with violence, but I want to change.\u201d<\/p>\n Other activities focus on social inclusion in a village at risk. <\/strong>The situation turned dangerous and the parish priest advised the Movement\u2019s members to be careful. In another two cities, the Focolare runs kindergartens and after-school programmes oriented towards curbing the school dropout rate, which encourages criminal recruitment.<\/p>\n Following the example of Romero <\/strong>in El Salvador and beyond, there is a desire to be faithful to the Gospel by living for all, especially the small, the poor and the least.<\/p>\n <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Salvadoran bishop who was murdered \u201cin hatred for the faith\u201d that inspired his service to the poor and defenceless, will soon be declared Blessed. His life had been an example of Christian integrity for the Focolare community that emerged in El Salvador during the civil war.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-327076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-non-categorizzato"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327076\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.focolare.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u201cThe connecting roads were alternately patrolled by guerrillas and military\u201d continues Filippo,<\/strong> \u201cso you had to find makeshift ways to get around or you would be placed under interrogation that could lead to forced recruitment. \u201cThe war had followed the death of Romero and his message was quite alive in everyone.\u201d \u201cThe words, the teaching and witness of Bishop Romero,\u201d says Reynaldo, one of the first young people<\/a> of the Movement in El Salvador, \u201cpowerfully resounded in those who had the fortune of discovering the Ideal of unity, particularly that call to opting for the poor. It was a strong call to Christian integrity, causing perplexity in some, embraced by many, at times manipulated. \u201cBishop Romero\u2019s witness joined to the encounter with the experience of Chiara Lubich<\/a> and her companions during the Second World War in Trent, made us embrace the charism of unity<\/a> in a purer manner, and it helped us go against the tide.\u201d<\/p>\n