Reporter Åsa Welander goes to El Salvador for the beatification of Oscar Romero, a champion of the poor and marginalized who spoke against the military regime. Romero was killed 35 years ago, and this past spring the Vatican took the first steps to put him on a path towards sainthood, but Romero is already regarded as a hero in El Salvador for his strong stance against poverty and oppression.
To accompany this story, we are also featuring photos taken by Encarni Pindado during the time of the beatification ceremony in El Salvador.
Thousands of people walk on the streets of San Salvador during the vigil held the night before the beatification of Monseñor Romero. (CREDIT: Encarni Pindado)
Jon Sobrino is a Jesuit Catholic priest and theologian, who worked close to Óscar Romero. He has written several books about Romero and liberation theology. (CREDIT: Encarni Pindado)
The special police force that combats gang violence in San Salvador patrols inside a neighborhood where members of the gang Barrio 18 live with their families. (CREDIT: Encarni Pindado)
Volunteers from the Red Cross cover the body of a man assassinated in the middle of a crowded street in central San Salvador. (CREDIT: Encarni Pindado)
Alicia was shot in her lung and spine by a stray bullet from a gang member when she was one and a half years old. She has not been able to walk ever since. (CREDIT: Encarni Pindado)
Police search a man at a crime scene in San Salvador. Another man has been robbed and hit with a baseball bat in the head. The police was told the suspect was wearing a striped t-shirt. (CREDIT: Encarni Pindado)
A Mara Salvatrucha gang member with tattoos of grave stones representing his fellow gang friends that have been killed over the years. (CREDIT Encarni Pindado)
Cardinal Angelo Amato was sent to El Salvador to represent the Vatican for the beatification of Monseñor Romero. (CREDIT: Encarni Pindado)
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