Exactly 38 years after Salva-doran Archbishop Oscar Romero was killed by a sniper’s bullet during Mass at a cancer hospital, his country’s embassy in Belgium screened a documentary about the cleric’s life on March 24.

Called Desagravio (The Reparation), it highlighted the main achievements of the campaigner for social justice, his 25 years of pastoral service to the diocese of San Miguel, and his untimely murder, telesurf.net reports.

The documentary, co-directed by Patrick Soergel from Switzer-land and Italy’s Gianni Beretta, starts with Romero’s birth in Ciudad Barrios, El Salvador, in August 1917 and concludes with his assassination.

He died in 1980, the year the country embarked on a 12-year civil war, prompting what sources from the Archdiocese of El Salvador called seven years of “pastoral famine.” They described him as “a voice for the voice-less.”

Romero was reportedly killed by forces unhappy with his outbursts against the military government. One day before he was shot, he addressed local soldiers and implored them to “stop the repression” against rural people.

Costa Rican pastor takes presidential poll lead Fabricio Alvarado leapfrogs rivals after tapping fierce opposition to gay marriage Fabricio Alvarado: ‘This is an intense shout for values the sovereignty of the family as the fundamental base of society.’

A previously obscure Costa Rican evangelical pastor has dealt the latest anti-establishment electoral upset from a political outsider, jumping from last place to a first-round victory in the Central American country after tapping into opposition to gay marriage. Fabricio Alvarado secured 24.9% of the vote with 93% of the ballots counted. He was leading Carlos Alvarado (no relation) from the ruling Citizens’ Action party on 21.7% who overtook Antonio Álvarez, a banana entrepreneur, who had held an early second place. His victory was well short of the 40% needed to avoid a run-off.

Poland’s leading archbishop on March 18 deplored comments by a senior conservative priest who had wished Pope Francis a quick death if he does not open to “wisdom.”

Abp Marek Jedraszewski of Krakow said he heard about the comments with “great pain and regret” and has discussed them face-to-face with Monsignor Edward Staniek, who made them in a February 25 church speech in Krakow.

Krakow was the seat of Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, the late Pope St John Paul II. Poland’s Church remains attached to John Paul’s conservative stance, which largely differs from Francis’ inclusive message. A majority of Poland’s bishops see their mission as preserving the traditional Catholic values from the pressure of secularization.

In his speech, Father Staniek, a prominent theologian, said he was praying for wisdom for Francis and a “heart open to the Holy Spirit, and if he does not do that, for a quick passage to the House of the Father,” meaning death.

He said that Francis has departed from the teaching of Jesus and was wrongly interpreting mercy as opening up to Muslims and allowing communion for divorced Catholics, who, according to the Church, live in mortal sin and are not allowed communion.

On the eve of the fifth anniversary of Pope Francis’ election, retired Pope Benedict XVI defended the continuity of the church’s teaching under his successor and dismissed those who criticize the Pope’s theological foundations.

In a letter sent to Msgr. Dario Vigano, prefect of the Vatican Secretariat for Communication, Pope Benedict applauded the publication of a new book series titled, “The Theology of Pope Francis.”

“It contradicts the foolish prejudice of those who see Pope Francis as someone who lacks a particular theological and philosophical formation, while I would have been considered solely a theorist of theology with little understanding of the concrete lives of today’s Christian,” the retired pontiff wrote.

Msgr. Vigano read the letter during a presentation of the 11-volume series March 12.

Before reading the letter, Msgr. Vigano said he sent a message to Pope Francis and Pope Benedict regarding the publication of the book series.

He also asked if Pope Benedict would be “willing to write a page or a page and a half of dense theology in his clear and punctual style that would have liked to read this evening.”

Instead, the retired pontiff “wrote a beautiful, personal letter that I will read to you,” Msgr. Vigano said.

Pope Benedict thanked Msgr Vigano for having given him a copy of “The Theology of Pope Francis” book series, which was authored by several notable theologians.

“These small volumes reasonably demonstrate that Pope Francis is a man with profound philosophical and theological formation and are helpful to see the interior continuity between the two pontificates, even with all the differences in style and temperament,” he wrote.

Pope Benedict has made no secret of his affection for and admiration of Pope Francis.

Pope Francis “is very popular in Asia, a continent where two-thirds of humanity lives. Among the Catholics… I would say he has a very, very high rating, over 90% accept-ance. Among other Christians, he has also a high rating; they are very appreciative of him, sometimes I’ve even heard them say, ‘He is our Pope too.’ Among the non-Christians, even some may know about him, some may not have heard of him or may not know enough, but he comes out as a good strong, moral influence; his position on climate change has made an impression on people; and he’s known to be a person who reaches out to those on the peripheries and that’s made an impression too.” On the eve of the fifth anniversary of the election of Pope Francis, that is the assessment of Cardinal Oswald Gracias, 73, the first church leader ever to head the Catholic Church in Asia and in India at the same time.

In this exclusive interview he also talked about the possibility of the Pope visiting India and China, as well as the work of the Council of Cardinal advisers.

“I see the Pope can really touch the heart of Asia, a continent where the people are basically spiritual even though they are now also becoming somewhat secularized.”

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi told us he would very much like for the Pope to come. The difficulty is to find an appropriate time, partly because many other distinguished people are coming and because we are having so many elections. The Holy Father would not want to get involved in local politics. So, we are trying to find a time that is neutral for him to come, without people instrumentalizing his visit. I am hopeful that in 2018 we will be able to arrange this visit, maybe between September and November.”

“I am almost confident that he’s coming to India. When you speak of China, I see a glimmer of light, of this possibility. It’s not ruled out; his desire to go is strong.” “We’re coming to the end of one project—the reform of the Roman Curia. I hope we can finish it this year.”

As the Vatican appears to be on the brink of an historic deal with an officially atheistic and Communist regime in China hostile to religious faith, the leader of a Church in Ukraine that has suffered more under Communist control than any other religious body on earth says he now embraces a philosophy of “dialogue at all costs.”

“We need to pursue dialogue at all costs,” said Major Arch-bishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of the Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine in a Feb. 27.

“That can seem a bit crude, but really, what alternative is there to dialogue? Only confronta-tion, a war of sorts,” Shevchuk said.

“Today’s world doesn’t know how to dialogue, it only knows how to write on Facebook. Dialo-gue is mystery, it’s a sacrament of encounter. Dialogue is some-thing to which I’ve been comple-tely converted,” he said.

At the same time, Shevchuk said he deeply respects the per-spective of clandestine and under-ground believers who’ve paid a price in blood for their fidelity to the faith.

“I have to say that in these situations, the clandestine church has a hard time understanding,” he said. “Its suffering flesh isn’t capable of running behind these initiatives. That’s not only under-standable, but I’d say it merits respect.”

“I don’t believe the Holy See is indifferent to the suffering of the clandestine church [in China], but it also can’t negate the possi-bility of pursuing whatever dialo-gue it can with the authorities and the Patriotic Church.

I have to say that in these situations, the clandestine church has a hard time understanding. Its suffering flesh isn’t capable of running behind these initiatives. That’s not only understandable, but I’d say it merits respect.