FR. RUTILIO GRANDE

ORIGIN

• Fr Rutilio Grande was born on July 5, 1928 in El Paisnal, El Salvador

ASSASSINATION

• Fr. Rutilio Grande was assassinated by his own government on March 12, 1977 in Aguilares, El Salvador

GROWING UP

• Father Rutilio Grande was born into a family of rural farmers.
• Father Grande was raised by his grandmother and older brother in a pre - Vactician II Church.
• Inside the Vactician II Church services were very religious and were dedicated towards the path of redemption to the next life.
• The Church believed that both poverty and suffering in this world were ordained by God

WHY HE WAS A PRIEST

• Father Rutilio Grande recognized the dignity of all human beings, especially the poor.
• Father Rutilio Grande began to realize that his job as a priest was not to rule over others but instead his job as a priest was to help people that couldn’t help themselves.
• As a servant - leader, Father Rutilio Grande brought out the gifts within the community by encouraging people to serve one another.

FATHER RUTILIO GRANDE ORDINATION

• Father Grande’s ordination was celebrated in El Paisnal.
• When father Grande visited El Paisnal, he rejected any kind of special treatment
• Father Grande wanted to be treated and recognized as a normal person

MINISTRY

• Father Grande taught at a major seminary in San Salvador, where he was deeply committed to helping those who wanted to become good priests.

DEDICATED LIFE

• Father Grande was passionate about bringing together all parts of the community.
• Father Grande recognized his own shortcomings in his work with poor communities.
• Father Grande believed that the change in the communities was not inclusive of everyone.

EL SALVADOR, A COUNTY STRUGGLING WITH POVERTY

• Throughout Father Grandes life, El Salvador has suffered deeply because of poverty and the unhappy people that fought back due to the unfair treatment from the government.
• Most of the economy in El Salvador was governed by less than 1 percent of the population.
• In fact, half of the children in rural areas died under the age of 5.

SOCIAL EXPERIMENT

• For two years Father Grande and his team led a mission to very poor communities around his hometown.
• Through the reading of the scripture Father Grande taught these people that it was not under God’s will that they will remain poor.
• Instead, that all the people needed to come together to make a difference and spike a change in the world.

LIVING AND DIEING FOR LOVE

• Slowly over time people started to realize that the message Father Grande was trying to spread was in contrary to Gods love for all people.
• As more people came to understand the message of Father Grande, so did his enemies.
• On March 12, 1977, Father Grande was assassinated by the government at the request of the wealthy land owners.

CITATIONS

• https://www.americamagazine.org/issue/priest-his-people