The uncertainties of the Catholic Church in El Salvador

In the streets of San Salvador, at crossroads, in squares, it is absolutely unmissable. Easily recognizable by his gray hair, his ecclesiastical dress, his large glasses typical of the 1970s and his delicate smile, Mgr Oscar Romero, the archbishop of the city assassinated in 1980, appears everywhere. Frescoes on the walls surrounding dwellings, statues or posters, it is difficult to walk a few meters without seeing on several occasions the first Salvadoran saint, canonized in 2018.

But the martyred archbishop is not the only one to dot the streets of the capital of El Salvador, this small country on the Pacific coast of Central America. “Church of Christ of the Nations”, “Church of the Covenant of God”, “Church of Spirit and Truth” or even “Church of the Word”: if the buildings, often sketchy, are not particularly evocative, the names bear witness to the presence without more important cease of evangelicals.

Father Fidel Sancho witnessed this tremendous growth firsthand. Spanish Jesuit missionary living in Central America for forty-nine years, including the last ten years in El Salvador, he draws up an implacable record. “There is undoubtedly a decrease on the part of Catholics, the man with the white beard resigns himself. We are no longer the majority. “

One after the other, surveys confirm it. Evangelicals now represent around 40% of the population and are on a par with Catholics in El Salvador. A situation that was unthinkable just a few years ago.

The Jesuit makes this observation without bitterness, but wonders. Isn’t the Catholic Church in El Salvador “Martyrdom”, having given many lives through his commitment to the people, in particular the most disadvantaged? In addition to Bishop Romero, around twenty priests, but also committed nuns and laity were assassinated during the years 1970-1980 for their action in favor of social justice.

Paradoxically, this commitment is often invoked as the cause of the decline of Catholicism. “During the civil war (1979-1992), the Catholic Church was often identified with the guerrilla, argues Omar Serrano, vice-rector for social projects at the Central American University (UCA) in the country. One way to protect his own life was to leave the Church, to avoid this association. ” At the same time, “The neopentecostal churches flourished, with the support of the United States”.

The explanation is attractive but hardly convincing entirely, the propagation of the evangelicals in El Salvador being after the end of the civil war. Neither was there any question of blaming this growth solely on the promises of a Protestant theology of prosperity, which would attract the poorest of this country ravaged by poverty. “A number of our teachers are evangelical Christians themselves, notes Sister Nydia Ramos, director of a large school group in an upscale district of the capital.It is therefore about educated people, well integrated socially. “

“We must do a mea-culpa, says Father Sancho. Sf the Church is particularly invested in the social field, it may lack concrete interaction with people. “ Especially in El Salvador, more than half of the population was born after the civil war and therefore did not experience the black era of the martyrs, which ended in 1989, with the murder of six Jesuits of the UCA with their cook and her daughter. For this young population, these testimonies no longer necessarily constitute a reference.

Very present in the field of social justice, the defense of the poorest, the Catholic Church of El Salvador could have failed to address the intimate spiritual needs of people, thus recognizing each other – leaving room free for that to the neopentecostals. To answer it, some are also part of the charismatic renewal and therefore approach the evangelicals. “We are sometimes confused with separated brothers (Protestants, Editor’s note) », concedes Alvaro Silva, responsible within the community of the Savior of the world, a group whose “The charism is to be renewed in the Spirit”. While the approach appeals to some, it does not necessarily correspond to the DNA of local Catholicism.

Faced with these findings, Father Marvin Sotelo, director of a rehabilitation house for alcoholics and drug addicts in the infamous suburb of Mariona, wonders. “What evangelization, what pastoral care do we want? We have to find new paths. “

However, it is not a question of abandoning the field of social justice, according to the “Trajectory of proximity with the people, left as a legacy by Mgr Romero”, warns Omar Serrano, very concerned that the Church continues to be the “Voice of the people”, especially in the face of the authoritarian abuses of the current president, Nayib Bukele.

In El Salvador, the Catholic Church is one of the too few institutions able to really act despite the omnipresence of maras, these ultra-violent criminal gangs, whose code seems to prohibit attacking priests and religious. “In the country, violence is increasingly unavoidable, notes with regret Father Mauro Verzeletti, director of a center for migrants in San Salvador. But as we are a center of the Church, we are not in the sights. “If we are asked questions, I will say that you are a priest”, thus slips to the journalist a priest while traversing his parish territory surrounded by gangs.

Faced with the current situation, enthusiastically assures Christian, a future Paraguayan missionary currently in formation in El Salvador, “Evangelization must start from those who have nothing left to bring the Good News even in the most difficult realities”. But how to be present when fear panics maras silence everyone?

In El Salvador, the rule is ” see, hear and shut up “ : see, hear and be silent. Difficult, therefore, to act with those who suffer, often to the point of attempting the very risky emigration to the United States – more than 300 Salvadorans per day currently, a considerable figure for a country of just over six million. residents.

Lay people committed to the mission on the one hand, priests and men and women religious in the service of social justice on the other, the Catholic Church in El Salvador is not lacking in wealth, but must now find the means to reverse the trend of its decrease. In this country where people constantly claim to rely on ” Grace of God “, Father Marvin Sotelo is not overly concerned: “It is not necessarily bad for the Church to strip herself. “