Manuel Solórzano (1905 – 12 March 1977) was a Salvadoran Catholic who was an active participant in his local

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

and was close with its priest, Rutilio Grande García. He was slain alongside Grande and the teenager Nelson Lemus in 1977 on a dirt road after he tried to shield both men when armed Salvadoran soldiers killed them. He was beatified on 22 January 2022 alongside his two companions.

Life

Manuel Solórzano was born sometime in 1905 in Suchitoto. He married Eleuteria Antonia Guillén and the couple had ten children together. In Aguilares he sold

seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...

s and

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to make a living and had moved to that town for work reasons. He was also an active participant in the life of his local

and was active in matters related to evangelization efforts where he got to know the local pastor, Rutilio Grande García. Solórzano was murdered when Salvadoran soldiers killed him alongside teenager Nelson Lemus and Grande as the three were about to attend

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

that evening and was shot dead at around 5:00pm. The armed soldiers ambushed them in the middle of sugarcane fields and riddled their

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

with bullets as it travelled from Aguilares to El Paisnal. The three had headed to continue the

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after Mass and Grande at that time had received death threats for his provocative sermons. In his final moments, he tried to cover Grande and Lemus and ten bullets hit him and had almost torn off his arm in the process.

Beatification

The beatification process for Solórzano and his two companions commenced after the

Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, passi ...

issued the official "

nihil obstat (Latin for 'nothing hinders' or 'nothing stands in the way') is a phrase traditionally used by Catholic Church authorities to formally declare that there is no objection to the publication of a book. It also has other uses. Publishing The ...

" (no objections) edict which would allow for the

San Salvador San Salvador () is the Capital city, capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its San Salvador Department, eponymous department. It is the country's largest agglomeration, serving as the country's political, cultural, educational and fin ...

archdiocese to conduct an investigation into their lives and holiness. But 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 conducted the following morning on 8 January 2016 and was concluded a few months later on 16 August. However, a secondary supplementary process was initiated in the archdiocese, spanning from 17 March 2017 until three months later on 6 June; the C.C.S. in

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

Positio A ''positio'' (short for the Latin ''positio super virtutibus'': "position on the virtues") is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a Catholic person is declared Venerable, the second of four steps on the path to can ...

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

theologians Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

approving the material on 19 September 2019 and the

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

and

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

members following suit on 18 February 2020.

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

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

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The beatification was celebrated on 22 January 2022, with Cardinal Gregorio Rosa Chávez presiding on the Pope's behalf. The current postulator for the cause is the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

priest Pascual Cebollada Silvestre.

References

External links

Hagiography Circle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solórzano, Manuel 1905 births 1977 deaths People murdered in 1977 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 Cuscatlán Department People murdered in El Salvador Salvadoran beatified people Salvadoran Roman Catholics