Óscar Romero

A Salvadoran military commander is on trial in Spain for his involvement for the murder of the Salvadoran martyrs at the Jesuit-run Central American University over three decades ago.

Until the canonization of St. Romero in 2018, there were no official Salvadoran saints, though many Salvadorans throughout the decades, since the 1980 killing of St. Romero, prayed for his intercession and long considered him a holy person.

St. Romero continues to this day to influence members of the U.S. church -- from the laity to U.S. bishops -- seeking to model his example of carrying out the church's defense of the vulnerable and protection of the human rights of the poor.

Pope Francis has authorized the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints to promulgate a decree recognizing the martyrdom of Grande and his two lay companions. This suggests that they may soon be beatified—that is, declared “blessed”—most likely in a ceremony in El Salvador later this year.

On Oct. 14, 2018, he was canonized by Pope Francis. Today, Salvadorans ask themselves what the transition from “Msgr. Romero”—what he has been called in El Salvador for decades—to “St. Romero” means for his legacy.

Salvadorans have high hopes for the new president’s leadership. El Salvador suffers one of the world’s highest murder rates, and a third of its population lives below the poverty line.