The Weekender: Martyrs of El Salvador

“The Weekender” is our feature where every weekend we hope to highlight a short film, movie or documentary pertaining to the Americas.

On March 23rd the late Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero was beatified during an official ceremony attended by some 260,000 people in San Salvador. The outspoken human rights defender was murdered in March 1980 while officiating mass at a military hospital. Sadly, Romero wasn’t the only religious figure killed on the cusp of El Salvador’s civil war.

Nearly six months after Romero’s death four U.S. churchwomen – nuns Ita Ford, Maura Clarke, Dorothy Kazel and Jean Donovan – were brutally raped, tortured and murdered by National Guard soldiers allegedly on orders from their superiors. Much like the aftermath of the death of Romero, the killed women were slandered and labeled as communist sympathizers and revolutionaries.  They also shared another unfortunate parallel in that the masterminds behind their deaths have yet to be brought to justice.  Yet while a strong campaign has advocated sainthood for Romero no such push for canonization is behind the murdered nuns and lay worker. National Catholic Reporter columnist Heidi Schlumpf wrote last February that this should not be the case:

The Catholic Church's process for declaring someone is a saint can be costly and requires support from an organized group, most often a religious order -- which explains why so many founders and foundresses have been canonized over the centuries. It also explains why the church has so few lay saints.
 

But the lack of an official stamp of sainthood has not stopped Catholics from honoring the four churchwomen of El Salvador. Books have been written about them, those involved in justice work pray for their intercession, and young Catholics already choose their names as their confirmation names.

Below the page break is a November 2014 video from The New York Times’ Retro Report series that looked at the horrible murderers of Ford, Clarke, Kazel and Donovan. The analysis provides more details behind their deaths, the role played by the U.S. government to defend the Salvadoran military and the cover-up by officials from the Central American country.

(Note: the video may be Not Safe for Work due to several strong scenes of victims of violence).

Multitude Welcomes Pope to Brazil

Tens of thousands of people in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil took to the streets in order to welcome Pope Francis on his first international trip as head of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Argentine-born pontiff waved and smiled to the multitude as he rode in the open-air Popemobile through downtown Rio on Monday afternoon.  His security detail had their hands full attempting to control the throngs of admirers that gathered around the motorcade.  One woman even took advantage of a traffic jam to pass her baby through the window of the pontiff’s vehicle for a kiss from Francis. 

"I want to see him and feel him close to me," said Carlos Alberto Fahd regarding the ex-Archbishop of Buenos Aires.  "Francis is already changing the church with his simplicity," added the 23-year-old pilgrim who traveled from northern Brazil to catch a glimpse of the first Latin American pope. 

Prior to the procession, the Pope took part in a motorcade that was occasionally surrounded by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff led a group of dignitaries at Rio’s main international airport.  The group was then serenaded by a choir of about three dozen children; a fitting reminder that Francis’ visit occurs amidst the Church’s World Youth Day (WYD) festivities.

“The world crisis is not treating young people well,” the Holy Father told reporters on the plane travelling from Italy. “We are running the risk of having a generation that does not work. From work comes a person’s dignity.”

The Pope will attempt to use his visit to appeal to Catholic youth in a country where most young followers may not see eye-to-eye with some of the Vatican’s policies. An Ibope poll released today showed that 82% of Brazilian Catholics between the ages of sixteen and thirty years old support the use of the "morning after pill" while 56% of those surveyed back same-sex civil unions.

Daily Headlines: April 16, 2013

* Puerto Rico: Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla warned that he would push for a Constitutional Assembly over Puerto Rico’s statehood issue if Washington does not take action this year.

* U.S.: Mexicans Alejandra Xanic von Bertrab and Narciso Contreras along with Rodrigo Abd of Argentina won Pulitzer Prizes for their respective work in journalism.

* Latin America: A new study found that Costa Rica and Chile are the Latin American and Caribbean states with the most “social progress” for its citizens.

* Vatican: Argentine-born Pope Francis supports a controversial plan passed by his predecessor to overhaul the largest umbrella group of nuns in the U.S.

Video Source – YouTube via Newsy (Puerto Rican voters last year backed changing the island’s political status from a commonwealth to the 51st U.S. state).

Online Sources- Hispanically Speaking News, Huffington Post, Inside Costa Rica, USA TODAY

Pope Calls on Catholics to "Welcome All Humanity"

Pope Francis urged Catholics to "welcome all humanity with affection and tenderness" as part of his message during the pontiff's inauguration mass on Tuesday.

In his homily Francis called on followers to "take care of others", especially children, the elderly and those who live in poverty. His message of unselfishness was demonstrated before the mass when he stepped out of the "Popemobile" to greet a physically disabled man.

"We must not be afraid of goodness, of tenderness," declared the Argentine-born pontiff in front of an estimated 150,000 people at St. Peter's Square.

The newly elected Pope addressed the dozens of foreign dignitaries and asked "all those who have positions of responsibility in economic, political and social life, and all men and women of goodwill: let us be “protectors” of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment."

Jose Maria Bergoglio, who was elected as supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church six days ago, declared that the his "real power is service and at the end of his address he asked Catholics to pray for him.

Flags from Ecuador, Peru, Mexico and other countries were waved by several of those attending the mass of the the first Latin American and Jesuit Pope.

The inauguration mass was followed on a large outdoor screen by an estimated 40,000 people at the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Online Sources - La Nacion, Clarin.com, Vatican Radio

Video Source - YouTube via euronews

Argentine Cardinal Bergoglio Named as Next Pope (UPDATED)

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina will become the next supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Archbishop of Buenos Aires will take on the name of Pope Francis I after he was elected elected by at least 77 of the cardinals attending the Papal conclave this week at the Vatican.  

The 76-year-old Bergolio will become the first Latin American, non-European and Jesuit to become Pope.

According to CNN:

Bergoglio is considered a straight-shooter who calls things as he sees them, and a follower of the church's most conservative wing. He has clashed with the government of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner over his opposition to gay marriage and free distribution of contraceptives.

Bergoglio has not shied from defending Argentina's poor and youth and once said that the South American country's "social debt is immoral, unjust and illegitimate".  

The son of Italian immigrants, Bergoglio speaks Italian and German aside from his native Spanish and was named as cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II.

Bergoglio allegedly received the second-most votes after Joseph Ratzinger in the 2005 papal election.

The new pontiff, who takes over for Benedict XVI, was chosen on either the fourth or fifth ballot taken on Wednesday.

Tens of thousands of Catholics gathered in St. Peter's Square and welcomed the new Pope with a great cheer and celebration.

One of the new Pope's first major trips will be when he travels this July to the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro for World Youth Day.

Update (4:10 PM): The newly elected Pope Francis I called on "all men and women of good will" to help him guide the Catholic Church.

"As you know the duty of the conclave is to give Rome a bishop. It seems that my brother cardinals went almost to the end of the world," joked the former Cardinal Bergoglio in front of a massive crowd at St. Peter's Square.

Update (4:40 PM): Moments ago Argentine President Cristina Kirchner issued a public comment over the bestowed upon Bergoglio.

Kirchner, who did not meet eye-to-eye with Bergoglio over issues like birth control and gay marriage, issued a congratulatory message via her Twitter account.

"It is our wish that you have, upon assuming the leadership of the Church, a fruitful task carrying out great responsibilities related to justice, equality, peace and friendship of humanity," read part of the message. 

Prior to Kirchner's letter, the new pontiff has received messages of congratulations from the European Union, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, interim Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina and Spain's King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia.

Update (5:50 PM): Bergoglio may have finished as runner up in the 2005 conclave that chose Joseph Ratzinger as pontiff.  Yet the selection of the Argentine as the next Pope was a surprise for bookmakers such as William Hill, which gave Bergoglio odds of 25-1.

Though Bergoglio has yet to go through his first twenty-four hours as Pope, Irish-based firm Paddy Power placed odds on who his replacement could be.  Italian Archbishop Angelo Scola is the frontrunner at 5-1, followed by Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana at 6-1 and an 8-1 tie between Cardinals Sean O'Malley of the U.S. and Marc Ouellet of Canada.

The top Latin American picks to succeed Francis I according to Paddy Power are Cardinals Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga of Honduras and Brazil's Odilo Scherer and Joao Braz de Aviz.

(More updates after the page break)

Will a Latin American Become the Next Pope?

On Monday Pope Benedict XVI declared that he would resign from his post effective February 28th.  “After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry,” said Benedict in a statement read on Vatican radio.

His surprise announcement has led to speculation over who could soon replace the 85-year-old head of the Roman Catholic Church.  Is it possible that the new pontiff will come from Latin America rather than Europe?  Here are six possible candidates from the Americas who could become the church’s 266th pope:

Odilo Scherer (Brazil): Scherer is the Archbishop of São Paulo, which is the largest diocese in the world’s largest Catholic country.  He is young compared to other papal candidates (63-years-old) and his relatively moderate views could attract those dissatisfied with the scandals under Benedict.  The growth of evangelicals in Brazil could be a disadvantage for Scherer’s candidacy even though the next World Youth Day will be held this year in Rio de Janeiro.
 
Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga (Honduras): Betting house Paddy Power gave 10-to-1 odds in favor of the papal candidacy of the Archbishop of Tegucigalpa and ex-President of the Latin American Episcopal Conference.  As President of Caritas Internationalis, he has urged “the world’s richest nations to keep their promises to increase and improve development aid to the world’s poorest countries”.  His views on social inequality aside, he has also shared the Vatican’s hard line on areas such as homosexuality and birth control.

Leonardo Sandri (Argentina): Sandri is the head of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches and he was also chief of staff, the third most important Vatican post, under Pope John Paul II between 2000 and 2007.  His experience and his Italian heritage are factors that led one religious commentator to label Sandri as a "safe hands" candidate.