Afternoon light illuminates the interior of the El Rosario church in the center of San Salvador, El Salvador. Designed by the sculptor Rubén Martínez shortly prior to the Second Vatican Council, the structure avoids the use of columns and other elements separating the congregation from the clergy. Liberty Plaza and the church, itself, were the site of several violent incidents in the late 1970s, prior to the start of El Salvador’s civil war.
A temporary altar, constructed for a Holy Friday procession, depicts Archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador assassinated in 1980. Recognized as a martyr by the Vatican, Romero is to be beatified on May 23.
