Paterson priest concelebrates beatification Mass for four martyrs from his homeland

PATERSON  Father Raimundo Rivera, pastor of Our Lady of Victories (OLV) and Our Lady of Lourdes (OLL) parishes here, had the honor of helping concelebrate a Mass on Jan. 22 for the beatification of four Catholic martyrs from El Salvador, including a Jesuit priest, Blessed Father Rutilio Grande — all killed by death squads in the country’s civil war. The Paterson priest’s latest visit to his native El Salvador — like all his return trips — was tinged with sadness with a reminder that the bloody civil war took the lives of seven of his family members, including his mother and father.

Cardinal Gregorio Rosa Chávez of El Salvador presided at the Mass and ceremony for the beatification of the four martyrs. They were Blessed Grande, who was killed on March 12, 1977, while going to the town of El Paisnal for a novena; Blessed Manuel Solórzano, an elderly catechist; and Blessed Nelson Rutilio Lemus, a teenager, who both were gunned down in the attack; and Blessed Cosme Spessotto, a Fran­ciscan missionary from Italy, who was shot at point-blank range on June 14, 1980. Blessed Grande influenced another popular martyr in El Salvador with his thirst for social justice: St. Oscar Romero, then the archbishop of San Salvador, who was killed by death squads on March 24, 1980, while celebrating Mass.

“The beatification Mass — wow! The procession and the music were so exciting! I was very happy there,” said Father Rivera, who served as director of diocesan Migrant Ministry, before his assignment at OLV and OLL. The Mass took place at the shrine of Our Savior in the plaza in San Salvador, the capital of the Central American nation. He joined 200 bishops and 800 priests to concelebrate the three-hour Mass that afternoon, along with participation from 8,000 faithful. Crowds gathered around yellow and white Vatican banners and portraits of the four blesseds. Previously, the priest attended the canonization of St. Romero in Rome in 2018 and concelebrated a Mass for his beatification in 2015 in San Salvador. “The beatification [Mass for the four martyrs] happened on a beautiful sunny day,” he said.

As with every return visit to El Salvador, Father Rivera visits the tomb of his seven family members, who were gunned down by National Guard soldiers at their home in northern El Salvador on March 26, 1981. As a high school student, he came home later and had the grim task of burying his mother, Isabelle; father, Raimundo; his brothers, Arnulfo, Gonzalo, and Ricardo; his sister, Mirtala; and his brother-in-law, Marcelino. The civil war raged from the late 1970s to 1992 and took the lives of up to 80,000 people, according to historical information.

“Visiting my family’s tomb was sad but I’m comfortable. My mother wanted me to be a priest and that’s what I’m doing with my life. I’m glorifying my family with my priesthood,” said Father Rivera, who told the story of the murders in a talk at Assumption Church in Morristown in 2018. There he also spoke about forgiving their killer during a chance meeting with him in El Salvador in 2016. “I also felt comfortable, because I forgave the killer years ago,” he said.

Growing up in El Salvador, Father Rivera had heard about the ministry of Blessed Grande, who served as pastor of a parish near his hometown of Los Naranjos — a ministry of fighting for the rights of the poor.

“Father Grande loved and defended people,” said Father Rivera, although he never personally met him. “He is an inspiration to me. I want to defend poor people. I’m happy here [in Paterson]. People come from Peru, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Guatemala and also are Africanans. I visit people at home and give them gift cards or gift baskets that I receive. They are my people,” he said.

Blessed Grande was inspired to social justice later in his priesthood. He helped farmworkers organize to fight for better living and working conditions. The Church also was getting more involved in social justice in the country. This was met by a severe backlash by death squads set up by the military and wealthy elites, according to historical accounts.

The death of Blessed Grande, who was a good friend of St. Romero, inspired the future saint to get more involved in social justice. Several times, Father Rivera met St. Romero, whom he considered a role model for the priesthood. In 2018, Our Lady of Victories built and dedicated a small chapel to St. Romero that contains one of his relics, Father Rivera said.

The Jan. 22 beatification of the four martyrs in El Salvador reminded Father Rivera of the murder of seven of his family members in 1981. He and other soldiers dug a mass grave for them, the priest said.

“In the grave, I held the members of my family and dedicated some words to them. I told my father, ‘I like my studies and I thank you for that.’ I thanked my mother for giving me the Catholic faith and preparing me to serve the Church. I also thanked my siblings. I told them all that I did not want to disappoint them. I felt terrible, but I did not cry,” — largely because he was still in shock, Father Rivera said in his talk in 2018.

In July 2016 during one of the priest’s trips back to El Salvador — more than 35 years after his family was murdered — the unimaginable happened: Father Rivera bumped into the man who shot the members of his family. He told the priest, “I killed your family” and then asked him for some food. Filled with Christ’s love, Father Rivera forgave the killer and gave him food.

“It was really difficult to forgive, but I did. They [the murders] had passed. I needed to forgive him. When I met the killer face-to-face, I did not feel anything in my heart. I felt peaceful. The Church makes it clear: that we must forgive — always — no matter who or what,” said Father Rivera, who visits El Salvador twice yearly to see his surviving sister, Blanco, and celebrate Mass at his family’s tomb. He came to the United States in 1992, became a U.S. citizen in 2006, and was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Paterson in 2011.

Pope Francis praised the “heroic example” of four recently beatified martyrs killed in El Salvador.

“They stood by the poor, bearing witness to the Gospel, truth, and justice even to the point of shedding their blood,” Pope Francis said. “May their heroic example inspire in everyone the desire to be courageous workers of fraternity and peace,” he said.