Nelson Rutilio Lemus Chávez (10 November 1960 – 12 March 1977) was a

Salvadoran Salvadorans (Spanish: ''Salvadoreños''), also known as Salvadorians (alternate spelling: Salvadoreans), are citizens of El Salvador, a country in Central America. Most Salvadorans live in El Salvador, although there is also a significant Salvado ...

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. He was an active participant in his local

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

and was often involved in helping others to read the

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. He was also the one that would ring the church bells for

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

and helped his local

parish priest A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

. Lemus was slain on a dirt road amidst sugarcane fields en route to Mass alongside

Manuel Solórzano Manuel Solórzano (1905 – 12 March 1977) was a Salvadoran Roman Catholic. He was an active participant in his local parish and was close with its priest Rutilio Grande García. He was slain alongside Grande and the teenager Nelson Lemus in 1977 ...

and the

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priest Rutilio Grande García after three Salvadoran soldiers ambushed them. Lemus was beatified in 2022 in

San Salvador San Salvador (; ) is the capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its eponymous department. It is the country's political, cultural, educational and financial center. The Metropolitan Area of San Salvador, which comprises the capital i ...

alongside his two companions and the slain priest Cosma Spessotto.

Life

Nelson Rutilio Lemus Chávez was born on 10 November 1960 in

El Paisnal El Paisnal is a municipality in the San Salvador department San Salvador () is a department of El Salvador in the west central part of the country. The capital is San Salvador, which is also the national capital. The department has North of th ...

in the

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

as the eldest of eight sisters and one brother; his mother was a housewife and his father worked at the local

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. He was epileptic since his childhood. His parents had been threatened several times due to their participation in the Delegates of the Word movement in their local

. Lemus, meanwhile, secured a position to

ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

the church bells for

and he often helped his

in his duties around the church. He also contributed to several pastoral activities at the parish and would help others to read the

. His sister, Dinora Lemus (who was nine when her brother was murdered), recalled later how her brother had "the gift of helping" and was diligent in his studies at

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

. In his free time, Lemus liked to raise a piscuchas on occasion with his friends. Lemus was picked up on 12 March 1977 after he delivered

firewood Firewood is any wooden material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not highly processed and is in some sort of recognizable log or branch form, compared to other forms of wood fuel like pellets or chips. Firewood can ...

to his godmother and accompanied the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

priest Rutilio Grande García and his companion

to attend evening Mass and then to recite the

novena A novena (from Latin: ''novem'', "nine") is an ancient tradition of devotional praying in Christianity, consisting of private or public prayers repeated for nine successive days or weeks. The nine days between the Feast of the Ascension and Pen ...

Saint Joseph Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers of ...

. But three Salvadoran soldiers ambushed them on a dirt road amidst a sugarcane field (around a kilometer from Aguilares) and riddled their white and black

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with machine-gun fire around 5:00pm. Solórzano attempted to shield both men as ten bullets riddled him and tore his arm off. Lemus himself has five bullet holes in his head while Grande had been shot eighteen times since he was the main target. News about the three deaths did not come until sometime between 5:30 and 6:00pm. The

Archbishop of San Salvador The Archdiocese of San Salvador is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in El Salvador. Its archepiscopal see is the Salvadoran capital, San Salvador, and the surrounding region. The current Archbishop ...

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presided over their

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Mass at the archdiocesan cathedral.

Beatification

The beatification process for Lemus and his two companions commenced after the Congregation for the Causes of Saints issued the official " nihil obstat" (no objections) edict which would allow for the

archdiocese to conduct an investigation into their lives and holiness. The cause would be determine if the three had died "in odium fidei" (in hatred of the faith) which would mean that no miracle would be required for their beatification. The process was initiated in San Salvador on 8 January 2016 and was concluded a few months later on 16 August. However, a supplementary process was initiated, spanning from 17 March 2017 until the following 6 June; the C.C.S. in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

validated both processes as having complied with their regulations on 2 March 2018. Meanwhile, the postulation (officials spearheading the cause) drafted and submitted the "

Positio In the Catholic Church, a ''positio'' (''Positio super Virtutibus'') is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a person is declared Venerable, the second of the four steps on the path to canonization as a saint. Des ...

" dossier to the C.C.S. for further investigation. This led to the commission of

theologians Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the s ...

approving the cause on 19 September 2019 and the

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

and

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members likewise issuing their approval on 18 February 2020.

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

, on 21 February 2020, signed a decree that permitted their beatification, however, the original tentative August date had been postponed due to the

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. The beatification was celebrated on 22 January 2022, with Cardinal Gregorio Rosa Chávez presiding over the rite on the Pope's behalf. The current

postulator A postulator is the person who guides a cause for beatification or canonization through the judicial processes required by the Roman Catholic Church. The qualifications, role and function of the postulator are spelled out in the ''Norms to be Obse ...

for the cause is the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

priest Pascual Cebollada Silvestre.

References

External links

Hagiography CircleSanti e Beati
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lemus, Nelson 1960 births 1977 deaths 1977 crimes in El Salvador 1977 murders in North America 1970s murders in El Salvador 20th-century Roman Catholic martyrs Assassinated Salvadoran people Beatifications by Pope Francis Catholic martyrs of El Salvador Deaths by firearm in El Salvador People from San Salvador Department People murdered in El Salvador Salvadoran beatified people Salvadoran Roman Catholics Venerated Catholics