Gregorio Rosa Chávez

{{short description|Salvadoran Roman Catholic prelate (born 1942)}} {{family name hatnote|Rosa|Chávez|lang=Hispanic American}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = Cardinal | honorific-prefix = [[His Eminence]] | name = Gregorio Rosa Chávez | honorific-suffix = | title = [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|Cardinal]]<br>[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Salvador|Auxiliary Bishop emeritus of San Salvador]] | image = Cardenal Gregorio Rosa Chávez.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Rosa Chávez in mid-2017 | native_name = | native_name_lang = | church = [[Catholic Church]] | archdiocese = | province = | metropolis = | diocese = | see = | elected = | appointed = 17 February 1982 | term = | term_start = | term_end = 4 October 2022 | quashed = | predecessor = Marco René Revelo Contreras | successor = | opposed = | other_post = Cardinal-Priest of [[Santissimo Sacramento a Tor de' Schiavi]] (2017–present)  | ordination = 24 January 1970 | ordained_by = José Eduardo Alvarez Ramírez | consecration = 3 July 1982 | consecrated_by = [[Lajos Kada]] | cardinal = 28 June 2017 | created_cardinal_by = [[Pope Francis]] | rank = Cardinal-Priest  | birth_name = Gregorio Rosa Chávez | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1942|09|03|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[Sociedad, El Salvador|Sociedad]], [[Morazán Department|Morazán]], [[El Salvador]] | death_date = | death_place = | buried = | resting_place_coordinates = | nationality = | religion = | residence = | parents = | spouse = | children = | occupation = | profession = | previous_post = {{unbulleted list|Secretary-General of the Episcopal Secretariat of Central America and Panama (1984–88; 2001–05)|Titular Bishop of Mulli (1982–2017)}} | education = | alma_mater = [[Université catholique de Louvain|University of Louvain]] | motto = {{lang|la|Christus pax nostra}} (Christ is our peace) | signature = | signature_alt = | coat_of_arms = Coat of arms of Gregorio Rosa Chávez.svg | coat_of_arms_alt =  | module = | other = }} {{Infobox cardinalstyles| image = Coat of arms of Gregorio Rosa Chávez.svg| image_size =200px| cardinal name=Gregorio Rosa Chávez| dipstyle=His Eminence| offstyle=Your Eminence| see=|}} {{Ordination | ordained deacon by = | date of diaconal ordination = | place of diaconal ordination = | ordained priest by = José Eduardo Alvarez Ramírez, C.M. | date of priestly ordination = 24 January 1970 | place of priestly ordination = San Miguel Cathedral, San Miguel, El Salvador | consecrated by = Lajos Kada | co-consecrators = José Eduardo Alvarez Ramírez, C.M. & Arturo Rivera Damas, S.D.B. | date of consecration = 3 July 1982 | place of consecration = Church of María Auxiliadora, San Salvador, El Salvador | elevated by = [[Pope Francis]] | date of elevation = 28 June 2017 }} '''Gregorio Rosa Chávez''' ({{IPA|es|ɡɾeˈɣo.ɾjo ˈrosa ˈtʃaβes}}; born 3 September 1942) is a [[Catholic Church in El Salvador|Salvadoran Catholic]] prelate who served as [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Salvador|Auxiliary Bishop of San Salvador]] from 1982 to 2022. He was a close collaborator of St. [[Óscar Romero]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iglesia.org.sv/content/view/161/64/|publisher=Salvadoraran Bishops Conference|title=Gregorio Rosa Chávez|access-date=24 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090217192150/http://iglesia.org.sv/content/view/161/64|archive-date=17 February 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=CR>{{cite web|url=https://cruxnow.com/global-church/2017/07/11/salvadoran-cardinal-pope-sending-korea-work-peace/|author=Junno Arocho Esteves|date=11 July 2017|publisher=CRUX|access-date=15 August 2017|title=Salvadoran cardinal: Pope sending him to Korea to work for peace|archive-date=8 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191008125153/https://cruxnow.com/global-church/2017/07/11/salvadoran-cardinal-pope-sending-korea-work-peace/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Pope Francis]] made Rosa a [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|cardinal]] on 28 June 2017, the first cardinal from [[El Salvador]] and a rare instance for any auxiliary bishop; the [[Ordinary (church officer)|ordinary]] of a diocese typically is afforded that distinction when it is granted. As such, in archdiocesan affairs the Archbishop of San Salvador had precedence but Rosa ranked higher in the larger Church structure.<ref>{{cite news|work=CRUX|url=https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2017/05/21/pope-names-new-cardinals-laos-mali-sweden-spain-el-salvador/|access-date=28 June 2017|date=21 May 2017|title=Pope names new cardinals from Laos, Mali, Sweden, Spain and El Salvador|archive-date=6 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706201958/https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2017/05/21/pope-names-new-cardinals-laos-mali-sweden-spain-el-salvador/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=CN>{{cite web|url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/36277/el-salvadors-first-cardinal-a-friend-of-blessed-oscar-romero|title=El Salvador's first cardinal a friend of Blessed Oscar Romero|date=21 June 2017|publisher=Catholic News Agency/EWTN News|author=Joe Slama|access-date=22 February 2019}}</ref>

==Life== Gregorio Rosa Chávez was born on 3 September 1942 in [[Sociedad, Morazán|Sociedad]] to farmers. His initial education was spent in Sociedad and later at [[Jocoro]]. He underwent both his theological and philosophical studies in [[San Salvador]] at [[San José de la Montaña]] (1957–61) before he studied communications (obtaining a [[Licentiate (degree)|licentiate]]) in [[Louvain, Belgium|Louvain]] at [[Université catholique de Louvain|the college]] from 1973 to 1976.<ref name="CHU">{{cite web |date=2017 |title=Consistory of June 28, 2017 (IV) |url=https://cardinals.fiu.edu/bios2017.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190116132535/http://webdept.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios2017.htm |archive-date=16 January 2019 |access-date=15 August 2017 |publisher=The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church}}</ref> He continued his studies from 1966 to 1969 before serving as an episcopal aide for the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of San Miguel (El Salvador)|diocese of San Miguel]] from 1970 to 1973. His education in communications began his lifelong interest in media communications as a tool of evangelization. He was ordained a priest at the San Miguel cathedral on 24 January 1970 and he was pastor of the El Rosario church in San Miguel from 1970 to 1973 while serving as the diocesan director of social communications from 1971 to 1973. Rosa served as the spiritual assessor for some religious movements from 1970 to 1973 and was rector of San José de la Montaña from 1977 to 1982. Under his close friend [[Óscar Romero]] from 1977 he headed the archdiocesan communication's office until 1982.<ref name=CHU/><ref name=CN/> From 1977 until 1982 he served as a theological professor and from 1979 to 1982 served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Organization of Latin American Seminaries.

On 17 February 1982, [[Pope John Paul II]] appointed him titular bishop of Mulli and auxiliary bishop of San Salvador.<ref>{{cite book | page = 641 | url = https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-74-1982-ocr.pdf | date = 1982 | volume = LXXIV | access-date = 5 October 2022 | title = Acta Apostolicae Sedis }}</ref> He received his [[episcopal consecration]] at the church of María Auxiliadora in San Salvador on 3 July from Archbishop [[Lajos Kada]], [[Apostolic Nunciature to El Salvador|apostolic nuncio to El Salvador]]. [[File:Visita Tumba de Beato Monseñor Romero (25983623820).jpg|thumb|right|Rosa Chávez meets with Colombian President [[Juan Manuel Santos]], 2016]] [[File:Misa Cardenal Gregorio Rosa Chávez. (35670567651).jpg|thumb|right|Rosa Chávez at a Mass at the metropolitan cathedral, 8 July 2017]] On 21 May 2017, Pope Francis announced that he would make Rosa a cardinal. He received the news at 5:00am in a telephone call and later told the press: "I thought it was a joke. I never thought that this could happen to me".<ref name=CN/> Shortly after he received the news, Chávez visited to the tomb of Romero. Rosa attributed his appointment as a cardinal as a recognition and an honor reserved for Romero. He said that he believed that Romero was a cardinal in his blood and he therefore would be named as one in Romero's name.<ref name=RP/> Rosa was elevated as the Cardinal-Priest of [[Santissimo Sacramento a Tor de' Schiavi]] on 28 June 2017. He took formal possession of his titular church on 2 July. At a [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] on 8 July 2017 he said that Pope Francis had asked him to go to [[Seoul]] in [[South Korea]] for a meeting on how to achieve peace with their neighbor [[North Korea]].<ref name=CR/> Francis made him a member of the [[Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development]] on 23 December 2017.<ref>{{cite press release| publisher =[[Holy See Press Office]] | date= 23 December 2017 | url = http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2017/12/23/171223a.html | access-date =25 December 2017| title = Resignations and Appointments, 23.12.2017}}</ref>

Rosa has been outspoken in the past about government abuses and once named alleged killers of six [[Jesuits]] as well as their housekeeper and her daughter slain in 1989; he received death threats following this and was accused of being a [[communist]].<ref name=CN/> The death of [[Arturo Rivera y Damas|Arturo Rivera]] prompted expectations that Rosa would succeed him as the metropolitan archbishop though he never ascended to the position. The conflict in El Salvador ended in 1992, but it was Rosa Chávez who participated in the negotiations from 1984 to 1989 between the Salvadoran government and the [[Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front]].<ref name=CR/>

He begins in the morning listening to [[Vatican Radio]] and does not go to sleep until he has read important national and international newspapers. He was the President of [[Caritas El Salvador]] and [[Caritas Latin America and Caribbean]].<ref name=CHU/> He is the pastor at the San Francisco parish church.

Pope Francis accepted his resignation as auxiliary bishop on 4 October 2022.<ref>{{cite press release|publisher= Holy See Press Office |language = it|title =Rinunce e nomine, 04.10.2022 | url = https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2022/10/04/0736/01513.html | access-date = 4 October 2022 | date = 4 October 2022 }}</ref>

==Óscar Romero== Rosa first met Óscar Romero circa 1956 while Romero was a priest and the former was a [[seminarian]]. He worked for Romero following the conclusion of his philosophical studies for around twelve months and the two became good friends.<ref name=RP>{{cite web|url=http://www.romereports.com/en/2017/06/26/gregorio-rosa-chavez-i-will-be-a-cardinal-on-behalf-of-romero/|title=Gregorio Rosa Chávez: I will be a cardinal on behalf of Romero|publisher=Rome Reports|date=26 June 2017|access-date=15 August 2017}}</ref>

Rosa has been a vocal advocate for the canonization of Óscar Romero and attended his beatification in mid-2015.

He confirmed on his [[Facebook]] page in a post that he had an evening discussion with Pope Francis who alluded to the fact that he might visit El Salvador in 2018 to canonize Romero.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.solonoticias.com/2017/08/14/cardenal-rosa-chavez-confirma-posiblemente-llegada-del-papa-Francisco-a-el-salvador/|title=Cardenal Rosa Chávez confirma posiblemente llegada del Papa Francisco a El Salvador|date=14 August 2017|publisher=Solo Noticias|access-date=15 August 2017}}{{Dead link|date=June 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> However, Rosa Chávez later confirmed in a recording the archdiocese released not long after that the post was false and that he did not have social media pages. He said that no papal visit nor canonization was scheduled.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/36618/el-salvador-cardinal-says-facebook-account-posting-romero-rumors-is-not-his|title=El Salvador cardinal says Facebook account posting Romero rumors is not his|publisher=[[Catholic News Agency]]|date=14 August 2017|access-date=15 August 2017}}</ref>

==Coat of arms== The new coat of arms for Rosa Chávez was unveiled in the week leading up to his elevation as a cardinal. The shield is split into quarters with a golden star representing his devotion to the [[Mother of God]] in the upper-left. There is a [[palm frond]] in the upper-right meant to depict the Salvadoran martyrs since a palm represents martyrdom.

The bottom-left depicts rosemary which acknowledges Saint Óscar Romero who used that image on his own coat of arms. The bottom-right has two hands shaking one another as a means of depicting an [[option for the poor]] which is a dimension of the [[Catholic social teaching|social magisterium]] that appeals to Rosa Chávez.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=The Archbishop Romero Trust|date=27 June 2017|title=Shield of Cardinal-elect Gregorio Rosa Chavez|access-date=15 August 2017|url=http://www.romerotrust.org.uk/news/shield-cardinal-elect-gregorio-rosa-chavez|archive-date=14 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170814223329/http://www.romerotrust.org.uk/news/shield-cardinal-elect-gregorio-rosa-chavez|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category}} {{wikiquote}} {{Portal|El Salvador|Biography|Catholicism}}

* {{cite web| access-date = 24 October 2017| title= Rosa Chávez Card. Gregorio |publisher= [[Holy See Press Office]] | url = https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/documentation/cardinali_biografie/cardinali_bio_rosachavez_g.html |url-status = live| archive-date= 4 September 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170904064554/https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/documentation/cardinali_biografie/cardinali_bio_rosachavez_g.html }} * {{cite news|last1=Droujinina|first1=Marina|title=Salvador: Mgr Gregorio Rosa Chávez, créé cardinal|url=https://fr.zenit.org/articles/salvador-mgr-gregorio-rosa-chavez-cardinal-designe/|access-date=23 October 2017|work=Zenit|date=28 June 2017 |language=fr}} * [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/brosa.html Catholic Hierarchy] * [http://press.vativan.va/content/salastampa/en/documentation/cardinali_biografie/cardinali_bio_rosachavez_g.html Holy See]{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

{{s-start}} {{s-rel|ca}} {{s-bef|before=[[Luis Alberto Luna Tobar]]}} {{s-tul|title=[[Catholic Church in Tunisia|Titular Bishop of Mulli]]|years=17 February 1982 – 28 June 2017}} {{s-aft|after=Jayakody Aratchige Don Anton Jayakody}} {{s-break}} {{s-bef|before=Marco René Revelo Contreras}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Salvador|Auxiliary Bishop of San Salvador]]|years=17 February 1982 – 4 October 2022}} {{s-inc|rows=2}} {{s-break}} {{s-non|reason=Titular church established}} {{s-ttl|title=Cardinal-Priest of [[Santissimo Sacramento a Tor de' Schiavi]]|years=28 June 2017 –}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosa Chavez, Gregorio}} [[Category:1942 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:People from Sociedad, El Salvador]] [[Category:Salvadoran cardinals]] [[Category:20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in El Salvador]] [[Category:21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in El Salvador]] [[Category:Cardinals created by Pope Francis]] [[Category:Roman Catholic bishops of San Salvador]]