Gregorio Rosa Chávez | |
|---|---|
| Cardinal Auxiliary Bishop emeritus of San Salvador | |
 Rosa Chávez in mid-2017 | |
| Church | Catholic Church |
| Appointed | 17 February 1982 |
| Term ended | 4 October 2022 |
| Predecessor | Marco René Revelo Contreras |
| Other post | Cardinal-Priest ofSantissimo Sacramento a Tor de' Schiavi (2017–present) |
| Previous posts |
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| Orders | |
| Ordination | 24 January 1970 by José Eduardo Alvarez Ramírez |
| Consecration | 3 July 1982 by Lajos Kada |
| Created cardinal | 28 June 2017 byPope Francis |
| Rank | Cardinal-Priest |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Gregorio Rosa Chávez (1942-09-03)3 September 1942 (age 83) |
| Alma mater | University of Louvain |
| Motto | Christus pax nostra (Christ is our peace) |
| Coat of arms |  |
| Styles of Gregorio Rosa Chávez | |
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| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
Ordination history of Gregorio Rosa Chávez | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Gregorio Rosa Chávez (Spanish pronunciation:[ɡɾeˈɣo.ɾjoˈrosaˈtʃaβes]; born 3 September 1942) is aSalvadoran Catholic prelate who served asAuxiliary Bishop of San Salvador from 1982 to 2022. He was a close collaborator of St.Óscar Romero.[1][2]
Pope Francis made Rosa acardinal on 28 June 2017, the first cardinal fromEl Salvador and a rare instance for any auxiliary bishop; theordinary of a diocese typically is afforded that distinction when it is granted. As such, in archdiocesan affairs the Archbishop of San Salvador had precedence but Rosa ranked higher in the larger Church structure.[3][4]
Gregorio Rosa Chávez was born on 3 September 1942 inSociedad to farmers. His initial education was spent in Sociedad and later atJocoro. He underwent both his theological and philosophical studies inSan Salvador atSan José de la Montaña (1957–61) before he studied communications (obtaining alicentiate) inLouvain atthe college from 1973 to 1976.[5] He continued his studies from 1966 to 1969 before serving as an episcopal aide for thediocese of San Miguel from 1970 to 1973. His education in communications began his lifelong interest in media communications as a tool of evangelization. He was ordained a priest at the San Miguel cathedral on 24 January 1970 and he was pastor of the El Rosario church in San Miguel from 1970 to 1973 while serving as the diocesan director of social communications from 1971 to 1973. Rosa served as the spiritual assessor for some religious movements from 1970 to 1973 and was rector of San José de la Montaña from 1977 to 1982. Under his close friendÓscar Romero from 1977 he headed the archdiocesan communication's office until 1982.[5][4] From 1977 until 1982 he served as a theological professor and from 1979 to 1982 served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Organization of Latin American Seminaries.
On 17 February 1982,Pope John Paul II appointed him titular bishop of Mulli and auxiliary bishop of San Salvador.[6] He received hisepiscopal consecration at the church of María Auxiliadora in San Salvador on 3 July from ArchbishopLajos Kada,apostolic nuncio to El Salvador.
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On 21 May 2017, Pope Francis announced that he would make Rosa a cardinal. He received the news at 5:00am in a telephone call and later told the press: "I thought it was a joke. I never thought that this could happen to me".[4] Shortly after he received the news, Chávez visited to the tomb of Romero. Rosa attributed his appointment as a cardinal as a recognition and an honor reserved for Romero. He said that he believed that Romero was a cardinal in his blood and he therefore would be named as one in Romero's name.[7] Rosa was elevated as the Cardinal-Priest ofSantissimo Sacramento a Tor de' Schiavi on 28 June 2017. He took formal possession of his titular church on 2 July. At aMass on 8 July 2017 he said that Pope Francis had asked him to go toSeoul inSouth Korea for a meeting on how to achieve peace with their neighborNorth Korea.[2] Francis made him a member of theDicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development on 23 December 2017.[8]
Rosa has been outspoken in the past about government abuses and once named alleged killers of sixJesuits as well as their housekeeper and her daughter slain in 1989; he received death threats following this and was accused of being acommunist.[4] The death ofArturo Rivera prompted expectations that Rosa would succeed him as the metropolitan archbishop though he never ascended to the position. The conflict in El Salvador ended in 1992, but it was Rosa Chávez who participated in the negotiations from 1984 to 1989 between the Salvadoran government and theFarabundo Martí National Liberation Front.[2]
He begins in the morning listening toVatican Radio and does not go to sleep until he has read important national and international newspapers. He was the President ofCaritas El Salvador andCaritas Latin America and Caribbean.[5] He is the pastor at the San Francisco parish church.
Pope Francis accepted his resignation as auxiliary bishop on 4 October 2022.[9]
Rosa first met Óscar Romero circa 1956 while Romero was a priest and the former was aseminarian. He worked for Romero following the conclusion of his philosophical studies for around twelve months and the two became good friends.[7]
Rosa has been a vocal advocate for the canonization of Óscar Romero and attended his beatification in mid-2015.
He confirmed on hisFacebook page in a post that he had an evening discussion with Pope Francis who alluded to the fact that he might visit El Salvador in 2018 to canonize Romero.[10] However, Rosa Chávez later confirmed in a recording the archdiocese released not long after that the post was false and that he did not have social media pages. He said that no papal visit nor canonization was scheduled.[11]
The new coat of arms for Rosa Chávez was unveiled in the week leading up to his elevation as a cardinal. The shield is split into quarters with a golden star representing his devotion to theMother of God in the upper-left. There is apalm frond in the upper-right meant to depict the Salvadoran martyrs since a palm represents martyrdom.
The bottom-left depicts rosemary which acknowledges Saint Óscar Romero who used that image on his own coat of arms. The bottom-right has two hands shaking one another as a means of depicting anoption for the poor which is a dimension of thesocial magisterium that appeals to Rosa Chávez.[12]
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | — TITULAR — Titular Bishop of Mulli 17 February 1982 – 28 June 2017 | Succeeded by Jayakody Aratchige Don Anton Jayakody |
| Preceded by Marco René Revelo Contreras | Auxiliary Bishop of San Salvador 17 February 1982 – | Incumbent |
| Titular church established | Cardinal-Priest ofSantissimo Sacramento a Tor de' Schiavi 28 June 2017 – | |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
