El Salvador Oscar Romero Commemoration

Thousands gathered in the streets of San Salvador on March 21, 2015, to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero. Officially recognized as a martyr in January, Romero is to be beatified on May 23.

El Salvador Oscar Romero Beatification

Singer and songwriter ANDRES TORRES of Ilopango, San Salvador, accompanied by AQUILINO AYALA sings next to the tomb of slain Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero on May 22, 2015, one day prior to the slain prelate’s beatification. Romero was assassinated while saying mass in 1980.

El Salvador Oscar Romero Beatification

LORENA LÓPEZ (center) and her son, JOSHUA (right), light prayer candles adjacent to the tomb of Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero one day prior to the beatification of the prelate. Romero was assassinated while saying mass in 1980.

El Salvador Oscar Romero Beatification

Faithful gather at the tomb of Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero on May 22, 2015, one day prior to the slain prelate’s beatification. Romero was assassinated while saying mass in 1980.

El Salvador Oscar Romero Beatification

FRANCISCO BOSCH (center, top) leads faithful in an impromptu prayer around the tomb of Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero, one day prior to the slain prelate's beatification. Romero was assassinated while saying mass in 1980.

El Salvador Oscar Romero Commemoration

Thousands gathered in the streets of San Salvador on March 21, 2015, to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero. Officially recognized as a martyr in January, Romero is to be beatified on May 23.

El Salvador Oscar Romero Commemoration

Thousands gathered in the streets of San Salvador on March 21, 2015, to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero. Officially recognized as a martyr in January, Romero is to be beatified on May 23.

El Salvador Oscar Romero Commemoration

Thousands gathered in the streets of San Salvador on March 21, 2015, to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero. Officially recognized as a martyr in January, Romero is to be beatified on May 23.

El Salvador Oscar Romero Commemoration

Survivors of El Salvador's civil war pause at the Monument to Truth, which presents the names of more than 30,000 civilian victims of the conflict. On March 24, 2015, faithful in El Salvador commemorated the 35th anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop of San Salvador Óscar Arnulfo Romero. Recognized as a martyr by the Vatican, Romero is to be beatified on May 23.

El Salvador Oscar Romero Commemoration

A flower was fastened next to the name of Archbishop Oscar Romero at the Monument to Truth, which presents the names of more than 30,000 civilian victims of the conflict. On March 24, 2015, faithful in El Salvador commemorated the 35th anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop of San Salvador Óscar Arnulfo Romero. Recognized as a martyr by the Vatican, Romero is to be beatified on May 23.

El Salvador Ecclesial Base Communities

Members of the Ecclesial Base Community El Pueblo de Dios en Camino take part in a Celebration of the Word, a participatory Catholic liturgy performed in the absence of a priest. The meeting space is decorated with images of religious and laypeople killed during El Salvador's civil war, including a bust of Archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero, assassinated on March 24, 1980.

El Salvador Ecclesial Base Communities

A map at the Ecclesial Base Community El Pueblo de Dios en Camino denoting several of the massacres committed across El Salvador is titled "Para no olvidar," a phrase which roughly translates to "Lest we forget."

El Salvador Ecclesial Base Communities

A song sheet at the Ecclesial Base Community El Pueblo de Dios en Camino features pieces commemorating catechists and others killed during El Salvador's civil war, along with songs from the Popular Mass and others.

El Salvador Oscar Romero Commemoration

An art installation at the University of El Salvador depicts Archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero, assassinated in 1980. The installation quotes a homily delivered by Romero the day before he was killed, in which he addressed the Salvadoran armed forces, asking "In the name of God, and in the name of this suffering people I ask you, I beg you, I order you: Stop the repression."

El Salvador Oscar Romero Commemoration

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.

El Salvador Holy Week

Residents participate in a Holy Friday procession in Suchitoto, El Salvador.

El Salvador Oscar Romero Commemoration

A house is decorated with a poster commemorating revolutionary fighters killed during the civil war and a sign bearing the likeness of Archbishop of San Salvador Óscar Arnulfo Romero, assassinated in 1980. Recognized as a martyr by the Vatican, Romero is to be beatified on May 23.

El Salvador Oscar Romero Commemoration

Community members in Cantón La Bermuda, Suchitoto, attend a Holy Saturday vigil at a chapel bearing the likeness of archbishop of San Salvador Óscar Arnulfo Romero, assassinated in 1980. Recognized as a martyr by the Vatican, Romero is to be beatified on May 23.

El Salvador Historical Memory

Various types of rifles used during the Armed Conflict decorate the central plaza of Cinquera, in north central El Salvador. Largely destroyed during the Civil War, the town was repopulated with the peace process by former combatants and survivors who had fled to Honduras as refugees during the 1980s.

Forum for Truth El Salvador

CRISTI BARRIERA, VIOLETA BARRERA, JACKIE CANJURA and EVELIN VALE perform the piece "Statues in Favor of Historical Memory" at the entrance of the National Theater in San Salvador, El Salvador on March 23, 2015. March 24 marks the 35th anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero.

El Salvador Flower and Palm Festival

On May 10, 2015, Residents and visitors celebrated the Flower and Palm Festival in Panchimalco, El Salvador. The festival honors the Virgin Mary and hails the beginning of the rainy season, in which crops are planted. While others took part in a Catholic procession, representatives of El Salvador's Nahuat People performed a traditional ceremony in the town's central plaza.

EL Salvador Oscar Romero

A stone carving in an outdoor sculpture museum in the town of Panchimalco depicts slain Archbishop Oscar Romero.

El Salvador El Rosario Church

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.